After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
