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Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

A King of Glitz

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a glamorous, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by 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 crystal-covered bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

Swift has company. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Vintage Look

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

She says the showgirl image are key to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion Swift alludes to in a latest documentary series that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, gym sessions and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but maintaining this image that it’s easy and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to look to than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a realm where nobody falters.