Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing 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 pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering 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 music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 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 lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.
