Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold 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 embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs 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 rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
