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Following a three-decade tenure on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The show, known for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed commentators who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

Today, nearly ten years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Master of Sequins

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his signature style, dressing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie crafted for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a publication. “Contemporary performers are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, 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, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were perfect for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, showgirl inspirations have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they zoomed across world tours in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against camp sets. A top stylist her creative director told a style publication he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, Lipa’s dancers waved giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from History

These artists and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including vaudeville and dance line references. The outcome are vastly different from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an umbrella term encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Coveted Vintage Style

For gen Z and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he designed for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, a singer paid an private amount to buy the Mackie fringed 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 vintage enthusiasts.

“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been adapted. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the glitter but without the nudity.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of the City

She says showgirls are central to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, being present at conventions and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

An Allure of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a latest docuseries that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in heels every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my cue so I could recover before I went on stage. You are perspiring the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and stunning and ethereal.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a desire for fantasy. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, idealism and a world where no one misses a mark.