After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé 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 looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored 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 reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
