After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion 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 leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
