Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
