Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
