Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist 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 new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
