Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.