After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
