After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé 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 looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, 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 chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco 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 ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
