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After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A Master of Glitz

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.