After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Glitz
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top 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 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
