After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
