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Following a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Sultan of Sparkle

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its projected value, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer 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 glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a new documentary series that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, workouts and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented make-believe, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.