After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
