After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
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 earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy 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 represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
