After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
A King of Sequins
Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Revival
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic 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 named The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.
Pulling from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.
