Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
