Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist 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 fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban 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 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
