After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to 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, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
