After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. 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 inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
