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Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

A King of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says showgirls are central to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Allure of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like 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 stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.