After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed 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 tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
