Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded 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 younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
