Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and young adult 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 actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
