After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by 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 retro 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 an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase 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 entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.