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After a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes created by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to dwindling audience numbers and unimpressed critics who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

The Sultan of Glitz

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made over-the-top stage sparkle his trademark look, outfitting everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. Earlier this month, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, seven times its initial estimate, while a shimmering tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is seeking something other than what they were accustomed to”, he told a newspaper. “New stars are pushing toward a show-stopping, more spectacular, show-stopping, grand statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across arena stages in glitter, strategic openings and plumes, highlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – referencing pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant ostrich feather fans.

Drawing from the Past

Modern stars and other chart toppers also reference historical performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of short shirts and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl revival. A former performer, a former Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word term is being “used as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the star wore a translucent sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an private amount to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of retro Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“The showgirl aesthetic bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says an archivist, a curator at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the shine but without the nudity.”

More Than Simply Style: An Symbol of Vegas

Chung says this figure are integral to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was flanked by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, the historian says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting figure of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. This idea Taylor Swift alludes to in a recent docuseries that shows the off-camera action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her feathered headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my moment so I could recover before I made my entrance. You’re perspiring the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s easy and beautiful and magical.”

Perhaps this is where the appeal of the showgirl really is found. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, perfection and a world where no one misses a mark.