After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective 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 looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial 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 actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
