After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made 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 tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Maybe 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 emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
