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After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

The Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream 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 entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.