After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.
Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Master of Sequins
Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
A Musical Comeback
It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”
The Coveted Classic Style
For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.
“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas
The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Illusion
Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.
Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one falters.
