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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Sultan of Sequins

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its projected value, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

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. In the past few months, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by music artists including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

Lipa, Carpenter and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are poles apart from the 1990s era pop style of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a semi-sheer beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount 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 trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“Showgirls evoke fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Escape

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a latest documentary series that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, training and 149 shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re sweating the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and gorgeous and magical.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody makes a mistake.