After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show 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 explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
