Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon 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 titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are on board 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 “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, 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 gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.
