After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
