Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic 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 seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central 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, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
