After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Master of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion 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 latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
