After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
