After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
