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Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is making a comeback.

A Sultan of Glitz

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé 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 grew up with”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in sequins, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also take inspiration from historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously 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 popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This idea Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.