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Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A Sultan of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl references have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from classic performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer embellished dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a recent documentary series that documents the off-camera action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear 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 catch my breath before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.