After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
