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Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

A Sultan of Sequins

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Modern stars and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained 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 modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Retro Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung 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 figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where no one makes a mistake.