Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
An Allure of Transformation
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
