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Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.