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Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Sultan of Glitz

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.