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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the revue Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and critical critics who called it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

The Master of Sequins

Known as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a media outlet. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more dramatic, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The crystal-covered bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against overstated sets. A top stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and ensemble references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Retro Style

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod 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 reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the an academic institution, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Icon of the City

She says showgirls are integral to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift hints at in a recent docuseries that shows the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and numerous shows across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. 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 dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.