After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
