After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing 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 spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
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. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are central to the identity 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 traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
