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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A Master of Glitz

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and magical.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a universe where no one makes a mistake.