After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Musical Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
