Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed 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 incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard 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 really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
