After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Mainstream Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Escape
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one falters.
