After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Coveted Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
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 off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.
