After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-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 featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
