After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus 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, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.
“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas
The expert says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded 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, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.
