After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
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 cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
