After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
