Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
