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After a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

The Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Classic Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and numerous performances across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece 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 basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where no one misses a mark.