After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.
A King of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.
