Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
