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After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan 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 shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Vintage Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 hit among fashion collectors.

“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Allure of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.