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Following a three-decade run on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Sultan of Sparkle

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

The Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, 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, feathered armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across concert platforms in glitter, strategic openings and feathers, highlighted against overstated sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers waved giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

These artists and other successful musicians also reference historical entertainment forms, including vaudeville and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But certain observers are on board with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a see-through embellished dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a series of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“This style evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says showgirls are key to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-centric productions, Jung says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Allure of Illusion

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting preparations, gym sessions and countless performances across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy describes her own stage routines as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s effortless and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for escapism. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a universe where no one falters.