Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted 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 stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.
