After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert 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, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
