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After a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Sparkle

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Musical Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.