Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, 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 shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
