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After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering 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 looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.