Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
