Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says this figure are integral 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 no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
