Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
