After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
