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Following a three-decade run on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Master of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Musical Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 90s pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Retro Style

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City

Chung says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.