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Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A King of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City

Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Allure of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.