After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created 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 knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly 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 embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
