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Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Drawing from History

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum 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 collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

The Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.