Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
