After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed 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 favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
