Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to 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 sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated 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 – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
