🔗 Share this article

After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A King of Glitz

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress 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 reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.