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After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Glitz

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, show-stopping, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, 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, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are on board 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 term is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For younger 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 actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own showgirl performances as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s effortless and stunning and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.