After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
She says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.
