After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
