After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed 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 looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal 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 zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
