Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
