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Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its ornate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

The Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift references in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and magical.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to look to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one falters.