After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing 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 projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star 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 private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
