Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s 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 even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. 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, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
