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After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Sultan of Glitz

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny 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 looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing 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 perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.