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After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

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

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry 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 moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.