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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.