After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed 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 seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl 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 behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
