After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and young adult 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 star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
