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After a long-running run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.