After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where no one falters.