Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
