After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering 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 singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
