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After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Glitz

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”

A Musical Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Retro Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star 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, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a recent docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one makes a mistake.