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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The King of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.