Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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 bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
