After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, 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 sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
