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After a 31-year stint on the Las Vegas Boulevard, the performers from the revue Jubilee! took a final choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

A Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, well over its estimated price, while a metallic beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they knew from childhood”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were tailor-made for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sequins, strategic openings and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. Lipa’s stylist a fashion expert explained to Vogue he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from the Past

Modern stars and other hitmakers also draw on 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the late-century teen pop of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are on board with this glamour resurgence. Nancy Hardy, a former Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For younger and young adult stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through beaded dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus 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 vintage 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 an archivist, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the sparkles and the shine but without the exposure.”

A Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

The expert says showgirls are integral to the imagery of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any traditional showgirl productions, Jung says they are still employed as an logo of the city, appearing at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glamour,” she says.

An Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting practice sessions, training and numerous shows across 21 countries, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She explains her own nights in the spotlight as “similar to completing an endurance race in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this illusion that it’s effortless and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

It could be this is where the fascination of the showgirl really is found. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for fantasy. Who better to emulate than these performers, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.