Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
