Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.
Pulling from Tradition
Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Vintage Look
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded 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 private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
