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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

A Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon 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 glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.