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After a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sparkle

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star 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, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

She says this figure are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own stage routines as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.