After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated 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”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture 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 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by 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 earlier in the year 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
