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Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

A Sultan of Glitz

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished 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 tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.