After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.
The King of Sparkle
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed 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 were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from History
Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Coveted Vintage Look
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Illusion
The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
