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Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A Master of Sparkle

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Musical Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also draw on classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

The expert says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, workouts and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.