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Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Sultan of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Allure of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.