After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time 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 covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
