After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told 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 plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult 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 semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
