Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
