After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic 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.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
