After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
