Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
