Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya 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, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
