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After a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, famous for its ornate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to declining audience numbers and unimpressed critics who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is back.

A King of Sequins

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a metallic fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Pop Culture Comeback

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across world tours in sparkles, cut-outs and feathers, illuminated against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The final look are vastly different from the 90s teen pop of crop tops and baggy pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But some critics are on board with this showgirl revival. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “used as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For gen Z and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among fashion collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who researches the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the exposure.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of the City

Chung says showgirls are key to the identity of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still used as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting symbol of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a recent behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, gym sessions and 149 performances across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and stunning and magical.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than showgirls, who have always personified fantasy, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.