Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing 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 striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication 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.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
