Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted 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 – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen 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 exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
