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Following a 31-year tenure on the iconic Vegas strip, the performers from the production Jubilee! executed their last synchronised kick in 2016. The show, renowned for its elaborate costumes crafted by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is back.

A King of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from Hollywood icons to pop royalty. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its estimated price, while a metallic 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 looking for something other than what they knew from childhood”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are embracing a show-stopping, more theatrical, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

A Mainstream Revival

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

She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they whizzed across arena stages in sparkles, strategic openings and feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 50s, her performers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also take inspiration from historical performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The results are vastly different from the 90s Britney Spears era of short shirts and baggy pants, and hip-hop inspired dance moves that preceded this trend.

But certain observers are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 2000s says the trend is “bemusing”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an catch-all phrase encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now even Taylor Swift.”

A Highly Sought-After Vintage Style

For millennial and young adult stars, Mackie’s classic designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a famous actress paid tribute to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a translucent beaded dress created by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Later that year, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn previously to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a collection of vintage Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a popular item among collectors.

“This style bring about fond memories for a historical elegance,” says a historian, a curator at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the legacy of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘acceptable’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the sophistication, the crystals and the sparkle but without the bare skin.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Symbol of Vegas

She says this figure are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas does not host any showgirl-based productions, Chung says they are still used as an logo of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a enduring icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

An Appeal of Escape

The former showgirl says the magical transformation of a showgirl persona is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer hints at in a recent docuseries that documents the backstage action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense preparations, workouts and 149 performances across 21 countries, each running for 3.5 hours.

The performer explains her own stage routines as “comparable to extreme physical exertion in stilettos every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my entrance so I could recover before I went on stage. You are sweating the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and beautiful and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the busyness of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. What better figure to turn to than these performers, who have always personified dreams, flawlessness and a world where nobody misses a mark.