Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.
