Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price 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 retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
