After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
