After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
