Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic 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 is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
