After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
