Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
