Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.
A Master of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”
A Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.
Drawing from Tradition
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.
But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”
A Coveted Classic Look
For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 favorite among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas
The expert says this figure are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.
Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”
Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
