Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
