After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made 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 previously 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.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.
