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After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

A Master of Glitz

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed 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 knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Classic Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.