Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
