After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
A King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe 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 newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Musical Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Retro Look
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Transformation
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
