After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.
A Master of Sparkle
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion 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 new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Style
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and countless concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.
