After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
