Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed 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 grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s 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 seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
