After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
