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Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

The King of Glitz

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian 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 icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Escape

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this image that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.