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Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

A Sultan of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer 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, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Escape

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where no one falters.