Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.
