Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
