After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute 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 inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green 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 performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
