Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to 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 bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
