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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

The Master of Sequins

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says showgirls are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

The Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and countless concerts across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody makes a mistake.