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Following a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, known for its elaborate costumes designed by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical reviewers who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is making a comeback.

The King of Glitz

Known as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glamour his trademark look, dressing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a publication. “New stars are pushing toward a theatrical, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The crystal-covered bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were perfect for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, the backup dancers wafted giant feathered fans.

Pulling from History

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including vaudeville and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 90s pop style of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

The Coveted Vintage Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a translucent sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a past glamour,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Icon of the City

She says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still used as an emblem of the city, showing up at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

The Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the transformative effect of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, workouts and numerous performances across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own showgirl performances as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the steps to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to head up ahead of time for my cue so I could recover before I performed. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where no one falters.