Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series 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 Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
