After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic 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 embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
