🔗 Share this article

After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.