After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised 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 critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
A Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine 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.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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 trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
