Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price 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 vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. 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 fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
