Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon 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 shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created 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 beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City
She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Allure of Escape
Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion 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 head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one falters.
