After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive 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 media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined 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 significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where no one falters.
