After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, 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 dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. 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 today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
