After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective 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 seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed 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 previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity 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 showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
