After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold 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 younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl 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 figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
