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Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

The King of Glitz

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top 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, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her 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 head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.