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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a new docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.