After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
