Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one falters.
