After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
