Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
A Musical Revival
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from Tradition
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”
A Highly Sought-After Retro Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Escape
Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.
The performer recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody misses a mark.
