Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
