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Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

The Master of Glitz

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from History

Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Coveted Retro Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, 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, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a universe where no one makes a mistake.