Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
