After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue 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 declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one falters.