After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
