Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. 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 “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
