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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered 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 embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are worlds away 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 on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style inspire fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says showgirls are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent documentary series that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.