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After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

A Sultan of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

She says the showgirl image are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something the singer references in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. 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 crafting this fantasy that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.