After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
