After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”
The Mainstream Comeback
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.
“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
The Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where no one falters.
