After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
