After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
