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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sequins

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. 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 today's icons.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

The Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece 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 lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.