Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
The Coveted Classic Look
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 hit among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a realm where no one falters.
