After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced 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 even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
