Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made 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, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
