🔗 Share this article

After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Retro Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount 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 series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Allure of Escape

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.