After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.
