Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored 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 reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
