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After a 31-year run on the Las Vegas strip, the performers from the spectacle Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The production, known for its ornate costumes created by celebrated designer Bob Mackie, closed its doors due to falling audience numbers and critical commentators who called it a spectacle “trapped in time”.

Currently, roughly eight years later, the showgirl, or at least the showgirl aesthetic, is making a comeback.

A King of Sequins

Known as the “king of sparkle”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glamour his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to Madonna. In a recent auction, a “barely-there” bodysuit he designed for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, well over its initial estimate, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with lamé wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 show sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more enticing for the new generation of stars who is desiring something other than what they grew up with”, he told a publication. “Today's artists are striving for a show-stopping, more theatrical, show-stopping, memorable statement.”

The Musical Comeback

It’s a look that made its way all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a global pop icon. Earlier this year, 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 sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She is part of a trend. This year, glamorous nods have been incorporated by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they zoomed across concert platforms in sparkles, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, illuminated against theatrical sets. A top stylist a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the mid-century, her performers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Drawing from History

Lipa, Carpenter and other successful musicians also reference classic performances, including classic theater and chorus line references. The final look are poles apart from the late-century pop style of short shirts and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But some critics are enthusiastic with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the early 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word term is being “employed as an broad label encompassing everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly modern pop stars.”

The Highly Sought-After Classic Look

For younger and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, a style icon paid tribute to one of Mackie’s iconic muses, Cher, when the actor wore a see-through sequined dress made by the designer in 2001, which was inspired by one he made for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, 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, Sabrina Carpenter wore a collection of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a favorite among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic inspire a sense of longing for a historical elegance,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who documents the story of showgirls. “Today it is considered a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the elegance, the crystals and the glitter but without the bare skin.”

A Than Simply Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says the showgirl image are central to the iconography of Vegas. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during civic functions, was accompanied by two showgirls. Even though Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, the historian says they are still used as an logo of the city, appearing at corporate events and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the attraction. This idea the singer references in a recent behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless concerts across multiple nations, each running for 3.5 hours.

Hardy recalls her own stage routines as “like running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headpiece weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to leave early for my cue so I could rest before I went on stage. You’re working hard the whole time but crafting this fantasy that it’s simple and stunning and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the appeal of the showgirl really resides. In the complexity of 2025 there is a craving for a break from reality. Who better to emulate than such icons, who have always personified dreams, perfection and a realm where no one misses a mark.