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Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.