Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
