After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
