Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter 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 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded 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 beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
