Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
