After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms 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 working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
