After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded 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 younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
