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Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, her performers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an undisclosed sum 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 series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Allure of Transformation

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where nobody falters.