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After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A Sultan of Sparkle

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Musical Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Coveted Vintage Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.