Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, 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, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
