Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
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 cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
