After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
