After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 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 modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
