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After a 31-year tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the revue Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, came to an end due to declining audience numbers and disappointed critics who described it as a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Sultan of Sequins

Referred to as the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made theatrical showgirl glitz his defining aesthetic, clothing everyone from screen legends to music superstars. In a recent auction, a “naked” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 commanded $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a shimmering fringed bodysuit with reflective wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance 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 explained to a newspaper. “Today's artists are striving for a theatrical, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, entrance-making statement.”

A Mainstream Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of mainstream fashion in 2025 thanks to a global pop icon. Earlier this year, the cultural juggernaut wore one of Mackie’s vintage Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, ostrich-feather armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record named The Life of a Showgirl.

The singer has company. This year, showgirl inspirations have been adopted by pop stars including Miley Cyrus as they danced across concert platforms in glitter, cut-outs and ostrich feathers, spotlighted against theatrical sets. A top stylist her creative director told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl spirit” to her Radical Optimism tour – inspired by pictures from the 1950s, the backup dancers wafted giant ostrich feather fans.

Pulling from Tradition

Modern stars and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century performances, including burlesque and dance line references. The final look are worlds away from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of crop tops and utilitarian trousers, and urban dance moves that were popular earlier.

But not everyone are enthusiastic with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who danced in the 00s says the trend is “confusing”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently today's icons.”

A Coveted Retro Look

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s first major stars, Cher, when the actress wore a semi-sheer embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Months after, Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie beaded mini dress she had worn earlier in the year 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 hit among vintage enthusiasts.

“The showgirl aesthetic evoke nostalgia for a historical elegance,” says Su Kim Chung, head of special collections at the a Las Vegas university, who researches the story of showgirls. “Now it is seen as a sort of ‘toned-down’ allure because it has been modified. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Icon of Las Vegas

The expert says this figure are key to the iconography of Vegas. She points to ex-mayor Oscar Goodman who, during public appearances, was accompanied by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any traditional showgirl productions, Chung says they are still featured as an logo of the city, showing up at conventions and in advertisements. “The showgirl is still a enduring symbol of Las Vegas spectacle,” she says.

An Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the transformative effect of a stage character is part of the appeal. This is a notion the singer alludes to in a recent behind-the-scenes film that captures the off-camera action from her extensive 2023 Eras tour, which included gruelling preparations, gym sessions and 149 concerts across multiple nations, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own stage routines as “similar to running a marathon in high heels every night”. Her headdress weighed 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the staircase to the platform from the green rooms three floors below in the lower level. I had to head up ahead of time for my moment so I could catch my breath before I went on stage. You are working hard the whole time but creating this illusion that it’s simple and gorgeous and ethereal.”

It could be this is where the appeal of the showgirl fantasy really resides. In the chaos of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. What better figure to emulate than such icons, who have always personified fantasy, idealism and a universe where nobody misses a mark.