After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, 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 shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication 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 History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
