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After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical commentators who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

A Master of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to Taylor Swift. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from History

Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. 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 even today's icons.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through beaded dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“This style inspire fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City

She says showgirls are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, workouts and countless performances across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a realm where no one falters.