Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high 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 underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
