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After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and unimpressed reviewers who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

The Master of Sequins

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its projected value, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut 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 shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, highlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and ensemble references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Classic Style

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of 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 collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style evoke a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, being present at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new documentary series that shows the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 concerts across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.