Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
