After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective 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 knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term 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 Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
