After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
