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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A Sultan of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted 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 knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated 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, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Transformation

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest docuseries that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.