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Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco explained to a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

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

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Escape

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and numerous concerts across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.