After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by 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 new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race 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 platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
