After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
