After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen 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.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be 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 showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
