After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning 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 emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
