Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed 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 told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
