Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
