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Following a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, known for its elaborate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is experiencing a revival.

A King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe 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. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Modern stars and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among collectors.

“Showgirls bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

Chung says this figure are key to the iconography of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still used as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Swift references in a latest documentary series that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, training and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress 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 recover before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied dreams, idealism and a realm where nobody falters.