After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.
But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 fashion collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”
A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas
The expert says showgirls are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Escape
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
