Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
