🔗 Share this article

Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

A Sultan of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from History

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Classic Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

She says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.