After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in 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 head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
