After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
