After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
