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After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A King of Glitz

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts 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 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City

Chung says showgirls are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.