After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert 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 updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody falters.
