After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
