After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. 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 metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
