After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, 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.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
