After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made 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 significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
