🔗 Share this article

After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.