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After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

The King of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.