Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.
Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.
The King of Sequins
Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.
“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”
The Pop Culture Resurgence
It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.
Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.
Drawing from the Past
Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.
But some critics are on board 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 title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”
The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style
For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.
“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”
A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City
Chung says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.
An Appeal of Transformation
Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.
The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”
It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.
