After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
She describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.
