Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels 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 start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
