After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic 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 Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
