After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
