Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone 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 term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
