After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
