Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called 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 world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. 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 seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
