Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial 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 see-through 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 beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
