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After a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Sultan of Sequins

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.

Drawing from History

Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s 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 modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.