Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. 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 apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support 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 perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.
