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Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A Master of Sparkle

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Retro Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.