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After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Sultan of Sparkle

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum 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 classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.