Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Musical Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.
