Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
