Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called 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 danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
