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Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

The Sultan of Glitz

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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 glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl references have been adopted by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where nobody falters.