Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks 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 sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
