Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to 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 new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made 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, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
