Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
