Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
