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After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

She says this figure 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 traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift references in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.