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After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

The King of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, breathtaking, grand statement.”

A Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.