After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
