After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She 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 currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
