Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
