🔗 Share this article

Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named 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 concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Escape

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.