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After a long-running stint on the Las Vegas strip, the dancers from the spectacle Jubilee! executed their last perfectly timed kick in 2016. The production, known for its intricate costumes crafted by American fashion designer Bob Mackie, ended its run due to falling audience numbers and critical critics who labeled it a spectacle “stuck in the past”.

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

The King of Glitz

Dubbed the “sultan of sequins”, Mackie has made dramatic stage sparkle his defining aesthetic, dressing everyone from screen legends to pop royalty. Recently, a “see-through” bodysuit he created for Cher in 1978 sold for $57,600, far exceeding its initial estimate, while a silver and gold beaded bodysuit with shiny wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 concert sold for $19,200.

“In my view it looks more appealing for the new generation of stars who is looking for something other than what they grew up with”, he explained to a media outlet. “New stars are embracing a show-stopping, more spectacular, attention-grabbing, grand statement.”

The Musical Revival

It’s a look that sashayed all the way to the epicenter of popular culture in 2025 largely due to a global pop icon. In the past few months, the entertainment titan wore one of Mackie’s classic Jubilee! costumes on the cover of her latest record. The rhinestone encrusted bra and thong, feathered armbands and shimmering headpiece were ideal for a record titled The Life of a Showgirl.

She isn't alone. This year, glamorous nods have been adopted by singers including Miley Cyrus as they zoomed across arena stages in sparkles, revealing designs and plumes, spotlighted against theatrical sets. Her fashion curator a fashion expert told a fashion magazine he wanted to bring “a stage persona” to her Radical Optimism tour – drawing from pictures from the mid-century, the backup dancers fluttered giant plumed accessories.

Pulling from the Past

These artists and other chart toppers also take inspiration from historical performances, including burlesque and chorus line references. The outcome are vastly different from the late-century teen pop of revealing tops and cargo pants, and urban dance moves that came before them.

But not everyone are convinced with this glamour resurgence. An ex-showgirl, a ex- Jubilee! showgirl who performed in the 2000s says the trend is “puzzling”. She thinks the word showgirl is being “treated as an broad label including everything from The Radio City Rockettes to Broadway performers and now seemingly today's icons.”

A Coveted Classic Style

For millennial and modern stars, Mackie’s retro designs have become highly covetable. In 2024, Zendaya honored to one of Mackie’s earliest clients, Cher, when the actress wore a see-through embellished dress made by the designer in 2001, which was reminiscent of one he made 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 favorite among fashion collectors.

“This style bring about fond memories for a past glamour,” says a historian, an expert at the a Las Vegas university, who studies the story of showgirls. “Currently it is viewed as a sort of ‘safe’ appeal because it has been modified. It has got all the elegance, the rhinestones and the sparkle but without the nudity.”

A Than Just Style: An Symbol of the City

She says the showgirl image are integral to the imagery of Sin City. She points to one-time leader Oscar Goodman who, during official events, was surrounded by two showgirls. While Las Vegas no longer has any showgirl-based productions, Jung says they are still featured as an symbol of the city, showing up at gatherings and in promotional material. “The showgirl is still a lasting icon of Las Vegas glitz and glamour,” Chung says.

The Appeal of Illusion

Nancy Hardy says the complete change of a showgirl persona is part of the attraction. It’s something the singer alludes to in a latest docuseries that captures the behind-the-scenes action from her massive 2023 Eras tour, which included intense practice sessions, training and 149 performances across multiple nations, each lasting 3.5 hours.

The performer describes her own stage routines as “comparable to completing an endurance race in heels every night”. Her headpiece tipped the scales at 34lbs. “I had to support it all the way up the stairs to the performance area from the backstage area three floors below in the basement. I had to start early for my entrance so I could recover before I made my entrance. One is working hard the whole time but crafting this image that it’s easy and beautiful and dreamlike.”

Maybe this is where the true allure of the showgirl really lies. In the complexity of 2025 there is a longing for a break from reality. Is there anyone better to look to than such icons, who have always represented fantasy, idealism and a universe where no one misses a mark.