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Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, famous for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

A Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, clothing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, 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 appealing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

These artists and other successful musicians also draw on historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are on board with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Coveted Retro Style

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie tasseled 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 fashion collectors.

“This style inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of the City

Chung says showgirls are integral to the identity of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a new documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could rest before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always represented dreams, perfection and a universe where no one misses a mark.