After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 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 lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
