Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
