After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
