After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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 vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.
