Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Glitz
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
