Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing 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 pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
