Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 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 leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one falters.
