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Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! took a final perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes created by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Now, nearly ten years later, the showgirl persona, or at least the glamorous showgirl look, is experiencing a revival.

The Master of Glitz

Dubbed the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made over-the-top showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Earlier this month, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the emerging artists who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a newspaper. “Today's artists are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

A Mainstream Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the heart of the cultural zeitgeist in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. Recently, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her new musical project. The bedazzled bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and glittering headpiece were perfect for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer is part of a trend. This year, showgirl references have been embraced by singers including Dua Lipa as they whizzed across arena stages in glitter, cut-outs and feathers, spotlighted against camp sets. Lipa’s stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers waved giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other hitmakers also reference historical entertainment forms, including classic theater and chorus line references. The outcome are worlds away from the 1990s era teen pop of revealing tops and utilitarian trousers, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are convinced with this showgirl revival. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly Taylor Swift.”

The Highly Sought-After Vintage Look

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, a famous actress honored to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer sequined dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, another pop star paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress she had worn earlier in the year to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among fashion collectors.

“This style inspire nostalgia for a past glamour,” says a historian, head of special collections at the University of Nevada, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is considered a sort of ‘safe’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the sparkles and the shine but without the bare skin.”

More Than Just Style: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says showgirls are integral to the iconography of Las Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-centric productions, Chung says they are still employed as an emblem of the city, appearing at corporate events and in marketing. “The showgirl is still a enduring figure of Las Vegas glamour,” she says.

The Appeal of Transformation

The former showgirl says the complete change of a showgirl is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer hints at in a new behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included exhausting rehearsals, gym sessions and numerous concerts across dozens of cities, each going on for 3.5 hours.

She explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to carry it all the way up the stairs to the platform from the backstage area three floors below in the underground. I had to start early for my entrance so I could catch my breath before I made my entrance. One is sweating the whole time but creating this image that it’s easy and stunning and dreamlike.”

Perhaps this is where the fascination of the showgirl fantasy really lies. In the chaos of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to turn to than such icons, who have always embodied fantasy, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.