After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
