Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed 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 younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
