After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.
Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.
The Sultan of Sequins
Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.
“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.
Drawing from the Past
These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.
But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Classic Look
For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.
“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas
She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though 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 gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.
An Allure of Illusion
Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.
She describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”
Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.
