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Following a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

The Sultan of Glitz

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

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

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount 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 vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.