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After a 31-year stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

The Master of Sparkle

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in sequins, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against overstated sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The final look are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created 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 trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the history of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the appeal. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and numerous performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to leave early for my cue so I could catch my breath before I performed. One is perspiring the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where nobody misses a mark.