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After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

The Master of Glitz

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing 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 projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. 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 tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical 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 – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.