Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term 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 Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
