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Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City

She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Appeal of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.