After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol 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 Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
