After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed 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 seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
