After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title 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 Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
