Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For gen Z and modern 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 actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.
