After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical 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 classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
