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Following a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

The Master of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Vintage Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

She says this figure are central 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 currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.