After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
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 cultural juggernaut 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 sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced 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 even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
