After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
