After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.