Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Vintage Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage 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 bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Allure of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.
