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After a three-decade stint on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is experiencing a revival.

A Master of Glitz

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I believe it looks more appealing for the younger performer who is desiring something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a media outlet. “New stars are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the heart of mainstream fashion in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by pop stars including Dua Lipa as they danced across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against camp sets. A top stylist a fashion expert explained to a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant feathered fans.

Drawing from History

These artists and other chart toppers also reference classic entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “treated as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even today's icons.”

A Highly Sought-After Retro Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an significant price to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about a sense of longing for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘toned-down’ appeal because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

Chung says showgirls are key to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Las Vegas spectacle,” the expert says.

An Appeal of Illusion

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This is a notion Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that shows the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling rehearsals, training and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

She describes her own showgirl performances as “similar to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but maintaining this fantasy that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the busyness of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always represented make-believe, flawlessness and a world where no one falters.