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Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

The King of Sequins

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says showgirls are key to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.