Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.
