After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
