Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. 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 made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
