After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title 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 Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring 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 really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.
