After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic 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 titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
