Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
