After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
