Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to 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 stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
