🔗 Share this article

After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

The Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas

She says this figure are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.