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After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

A Sultan of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to 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 latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and countless performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.