Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks 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 bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
