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Following a three-decade stint on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the production Jubilee! gave one last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, famous for its intricate costumes crafted by style icon Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to dwindling audience numbers and disappointed commentators who described it as a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

Now, roughly eight years later, showgirls, or at least the showgirl style, is back.

The Sultan of Sparkle

Referred to as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, outfitting everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. Recently, a “naked” bodysuit he made for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its projected value, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more attractive for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are pushing toward a glamorous, more dramatic, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Musical Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the epicenter of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Recently, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s original Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by singers including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across concert platforms in sparkles, revealing designs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist her creative director mentioned in an interview with a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant feathered fans.

Drawing from Tradition

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference classic entertainment forms, including burlesque and chorus line references. The results are worlds away from the 90s Britney Spears era of crop tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a one-time Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even modern pop stars.”

The Coveted Classic Look

For younger and millennial stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become extremely desirable. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer 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 tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, Carpenter wore a series of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among fashion collectors.

“This style evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ sexy because it has been updated. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Just Fashion: An Symbol of Las Vegas

She says this figure are key to the identity of Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. Although Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still featured as an emblem of the city, appearing at gatherings and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Vegas glitz and glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a stage character is part of the attraction. This is a notion the singer references in a recent docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, workouts and countless performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

She describes her own nights in the spotlight as “comparable to running a marathon in stilettos every night”. Her headdress tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the steps to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to head up ahead of time for my entrance so I could rest before I performed. You’re sweating the whole time but maintaining this illusion that it’s easy and gorgeous and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the true allure of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for escapism. Is there anyone better to emulate than these performers, who have always represented fantasy, flawlessness and a world where no one misses a mark.