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After a 31-year run on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Glitz

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one falters.