Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
