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After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sequins

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.