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Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers 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 experiencing a revival.

The Sultan of Sequins

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are embracing a theatrical, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, strategic openings and plumes, illuminated against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

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

A Coveted Retro Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, head of special collections at the an academic institution, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says this figure are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Allure of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the appeal. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest behind-the-scenes film that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling practice sessions, training and 149 shows across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I went on stage. One is sweating the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s simple and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied dreams, perfection and a realm where no one makes a mistake.