Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
