Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
