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After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sequins

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think 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. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

The Allure of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer references in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity 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 universe where no one misses a mark.