Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
