After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed 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 told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, 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 ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
