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After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A King of Glitz

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created 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 knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection 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 an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

She says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a universe where no one makes a mistake.