After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
