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Following a long-running stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

The King of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his trademark look, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls inspire nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, an expert at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” Chung says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could rest before I made my entrance. You are sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.