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Following a long-running run on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Today, nearly ten years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

A Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he stated in an interview with a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by music artists including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Her fashion curator her creative director explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also draw on classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are worlds away from the late-century pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are on board with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Allure of Illusion

Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. It’s something Taylor Swift alludes to in a new behind-the-scenes film that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, gym sessions and 149 shows across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the staircase to the performance area from the dressing rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a desire for escapism. What better figure to look to than showgirls, who have always personified make-believe, idealism and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.