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Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

The King of Glitz

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says this figure are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.