After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, 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. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion 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 stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
