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After a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

The King of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

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

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show 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 favorite among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas

She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a world where no one falters.