After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
