Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Sultan of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
