Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
