After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
