After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed 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 Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
