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Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed 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 labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The King of Sparkle

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Vintage Look

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City

Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

The Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a universe where nobody falters.