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After a long-running stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from History

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

The expert says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry 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 recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, flawlessness and a universe where nobody misses a mark.