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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

The King of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from History

These artists and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by 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, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls inspire fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Escape

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.