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Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

A King of Sparkle

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture 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 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created 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 earlier in the year 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 hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where nobody makes a mistake.