After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece 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 lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
