Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut 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 tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader 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 featured as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
