Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one misses a mark.
