Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from the Past
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, 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 nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
