Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform 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 performed. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody falters.
