After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied 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 promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.
