Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sparkle
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from Tradition
These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City
She says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own stage routines as “like 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 performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.
