Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
