After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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 shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to 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 fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
