After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded 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 seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
