Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers 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 experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in 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 basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.