Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show 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 publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut 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 named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone 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 is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
