Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.
The King of Sequins
Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from History
These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Retro Style
For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”
More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas
Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”
Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.
