After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Glitz
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus 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, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
