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After a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final synchronised kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and critical reviewers who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

The King of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is viewed 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.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City

The expert says showgirls are integral to the identity of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, being present at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Allure of Escape

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She explains her own stage routines as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody falters.