Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators 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 King of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert 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 told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
