After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times 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 believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult 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 beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
