Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s 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, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. 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-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
