Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, 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 elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
