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Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A Sultan of Glitz

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny 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 seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

A Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across world tours in sequins, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the late-century pop style of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the an academic institution, who studies the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Style: An Symbol of the City

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the identity of Sin City. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. This idea Taylor Swift hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to look to than these performers, who have always personified make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.