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After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A Sultan of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Drawing from History

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor 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. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and numerous shows across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.