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After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Master of Glitz

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says showgirls are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that captures the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and countless shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one falters.