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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its ornate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A King of Sparkle

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “Today's artists are pushing toward a show-stopping, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, memorable statement.”

The Mainstream Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from classic performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“Showgirls inspire a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of Vegas

She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, showing up at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Escape

Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something Taylor Swift references in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and countless concerts across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a universe where nobody falters.