After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
