Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal 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 whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount 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 hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
