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Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

A King of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, 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 emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and plumes, highlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

She says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a realm where no one makes a mistake.