After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
