After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted 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 grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed 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 at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.
