After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support 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 entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
