After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
