After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
