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After a three-decade run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Sultan of Sparkle

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to Taylor Swift. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other successful musicians also reference 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, Zendaya paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.