Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like 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 performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
