Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board 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 showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
