Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering 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 enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
