After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
