Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
