After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress made 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 beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
