After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp 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, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
