After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
