🔗 Share this article

After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Sparkle

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé 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 desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical 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 – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City

She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.