After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
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. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
