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After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

A King of Sequins

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.