After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
