Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Glitz
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert 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 glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
