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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

The Master of Glitz

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are poles apart from the 90s pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, 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 Classic Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says this figure are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Escape

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.