Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. 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 glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
