Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due 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 bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made 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, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
