After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
