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Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The King of Sequins

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For millennial and millennial 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 made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.