After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
