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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, famous for its ornate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Sultan of Sequins

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, grand statement.”

A Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and ensemble references. The outcome are poles apart from the late-century pop style of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

A Coveted Classic Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a trio of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

She says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, being present at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining symbol of Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Allure of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the allure. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in high heels every night”. Her feathered headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my moment so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really is found. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Who better to look to than showgirls, who have always represented fantasy, perfection and a world where nobody misses a mark.