Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
