Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created 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 publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, 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, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
