After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator 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, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
