After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
