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Following a long-running tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, roughly eight years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

The Master of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Recently, a “naked” 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 crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they grew up with”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a show-stopping, more spectacular, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist 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 new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against overstated sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other hitmakers also draw on classic performances, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But not everyone are on board with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an catch-all phrase covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent embellished dress designed 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 beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the history of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

She says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, showing up at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, idealism and a world where no one makes a mistake.