Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks 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 glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl 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 remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
