After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
