After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe 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 pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
