After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances 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 stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
