Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture 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 rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
