After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed 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 media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
