Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture 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 latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one falters.
