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Following a long-running tenure on the Las Vegas strip, the showgirls from the revue Jubilee! gave one last choreographed kick in 2016. The extravaganza, renowned for its intricate costumes designed by style icon Bob Mackie, ended its run due to declining audience numbers and disappointed reviewers who labeled it a spectacle “a relic of another era”.

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

The Master of Sparkle

Dubbed the “master of glitz”, Mackie has made dramatic showgirl glitz his signature style, outfitting everyone from screen legends to music superstars. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 fetched $57,600, seven times its estimated price, while a metallic tasseled bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie created for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200.

“I think it looks more enticing for the emerging artists who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a newspaper. “Contemporary performers are striving for a glamorous, more dramatic, breathtaking, memorable statement.”

The Pop Culture Resurgence

It’s a look that glided all the way to the centre of popular culture in 2025 propelled by a chart-topping superstar. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The bedazzled bra and thong, plumed armbands and sparkly headpiece were ideal for a record called The Life of a Showgirl.

She has company. This year, glamorous nods have been embraced by music artists including Sabrina Carpenter as they danced across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and feathers, highlighted against camp sets. A top stylist Lorenzo Posocco told Vogue he wanted to bring “a showgirl attitude” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the 1950s, her performers fluttered giant feathered fans.

Pulling from Tradition

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from 19th-century entertainment forms, including classic theater and dance line references. The outcome are poles apart from the 1990s era Britney Spears era of revealing tops and cargo pants, and street-style dance moves that were popular earlier.

But certain observers are convinced with this showgirl renaissance. A former performer, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who entertained in the 00s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl title is being “treated as an umbrella term covering everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now apparently modern pop stars.”

A Highly Sought-After Classic Style

For gen Z and modern stars, Mackie’s vintage designs have become incredibly sought-after. In 2024, Zendaya gave a nod to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the star wore a semi-sheer sequined dress designed by the designer in 2001, which was similar to one he created for Cher to wear in 1967. Subsequently, a singer paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie fringed mini dress she had worn at an awards show to perform at the Grammys. In September, the singer wore a trio of classic Mackie designs at the MTV Video Music Awards. They are also a hit among collectors.

“Showgirls evoke nostalgia for a bygone era of glitz,” says Su Kim Chung, an expert at the University of Nevada, who documents the story of showgirls. “Currently it is seen as a sort of ‘acceptable’ allure because it has been adapted. It has got all the glamour, the rhinestones and the glitter but without the exposure.”

More Than Simply Fashion: An Icon of Vegas

Chung says the showgirl image are central to the imagery of Las Vegas. She points to former mayor Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was flanked by two showgirls. While Las Vegas currently lacks any showgirl-centric productions, the historian says they are still employed as an logo of the city, being present at conventions and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a remaining icon of Vegas spectacle,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Transformation

Nancy Hardy says the magical transformation of a showgirl is part of the allure. It’s something the singer hints at in a latest behind-the-scenes film that documents the backstage action from her year-long 2023 Eras tour, which included intense rehearsals, gym sessions and countless shows across 21 countries, each going on for 3.5 hours.

Hardy explains her own nights in the spotlight as “like completing an endurance race in high heels every night”. Her headdress was 34lbs. “I had to wear it all the way up the steps to the stage from the dressing rooms three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I performed. You are perspiring the whole time but creating this fantasy that it’s effortless and gorgeous and magical.”

Maybe 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 turn to than showgirls, who have always embodied make-believe, flawlessness and a realm where nobody makes a mistake.