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After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

The Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The results are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Vintage Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody makes a mistake.