Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Glitz
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult 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 actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star 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 series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal 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 Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms 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 perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.
