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After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Sultan of Glitz

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

A Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created 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 previously 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 bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a world where nobody falters.