Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic 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 earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
