Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based 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 enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.
