Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
