Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over 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 believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
