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After a three-decade tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

The Master of Sparkle

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Classic Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

She says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Appeal of Escape

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. It’s something Swift alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.