After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for 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 spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult 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 star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
