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After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The King of Sequins

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert 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 told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

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

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.