Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
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. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
