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After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

The Sultan of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage 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 is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

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

The Coveted Retro Style

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

She says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

The Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.