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Following a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

The King of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are convinced 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 catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded 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 undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says showgirls are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody misses a mark.