After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
