After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled 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 world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
