Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist 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, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. 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 apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. 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 embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
