After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering 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 embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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 series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
