After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
