Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, 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 – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
