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Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

The King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 fashion collectors.

“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.