Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.
