Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
