Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
