After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due 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 new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
