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After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

The Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal 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 Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

The expert says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.