Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
