Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics 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 making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture 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 new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
