Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded 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 beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.
