Following a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage 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 made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
