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After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

A Sultan of Sparkle

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Musical Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a universe where nobody misses a mark.