Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry 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 cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
