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After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Sultan of Sequins

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs 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 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.