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Following a long-running run on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed commentators who called it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, almost a decade later, the showgirl persona, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Master of Glitz

Referred to as the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his signature style, clothing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they were accustomed to”, he explained to a newspaper. “New stars are embracing a glamorous, more spectacular, breathtaking, entrance-making statement.”

A Pop Culture Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the music phenomenon wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and glittering headpiece were tailor-made for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, showgirl inspirations have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across world tours in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also reference 19th-century performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s teen pop of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

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

A Highly Sought-After Retro Look

For millennial and millennial stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a style icon honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls bring about fond memories for a bygone era of glitz,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the history of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the crystals and the glitter but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

She says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an symbol of the city, being present at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

An Allure of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across dozens of cities, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the lower level. I had to start early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re perspiring the whole time but creating this image that it’s effortless and gorgeous and ethereal.”

Maybe this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for fantasy. Is there anyone better to emulate than such icons, who have always represented dreams, flawlessness and a world where no one makes a mistake.