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Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

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

A King of Sequins

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a publication. “Today's artists are embracing a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

A Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, cut-outs and plumes, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Modern stars and other successful musicians also reference historical performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, Miley Cyrus paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Sin City. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, being present at gatherings and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a remaining figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a showgirl persona is part of the allure. This idea the singer hints at in a new documentary series that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, workouts and 149 shows across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “like running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.