Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
