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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

The Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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 tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

These artists and other hitmakers also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

She says showgirls are central to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, being present at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.