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After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Coveted Vintage Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed 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 earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of the City

She says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “similar to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.