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Following a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The show, known for its ornate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, almost a decade later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

A King of Sparkle

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his signature style, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more enticing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are pushing toward a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and sparkly headpiece were tailor-made for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, Lipa’s dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Modern stars and other successful musicians also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including classic theater and dance line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s pop style of crop tops and baggy pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to 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, Carpenter wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Today it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

More Than Just Fashion: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says this figure are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, appearing at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a new docuseries that captures the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, workouts and 149 performances across dozens of cities, each running for 3.5 hours.

She recalls her own showgirl performances as “similar to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You are working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to look to than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, flawlessness and a universe where no one misses a mark.