Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal 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 zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created 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, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
