After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
