After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.
The Master of Sequins
Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Pop Culture Revival
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert 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 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Pulling from History
These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”
A Coveted Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.
An Allure of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.
