Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
