Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price 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 collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
