After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
