Did you really think we were going to let these Bob Mackies rot in storage? No way.
Las Vegas used to be full of feather fans and big lipsticked smiles. Rhinestones, kick-lines, showgirls— Nomi Malone with a glittery hairline and Versayce dress. These days, it seems Vegas has taken a turn for a more masculine edge.
“... Las Vegas is now America’s most exciting sports town,” hailed the New York Post in a tweet from early December. 2024 saw both F1 racing turn the Strip into life-size Mario Kart for their Grand Prix race and Allegiant Stadium host the Super Bowl LVII. For months, it looked like Las Vegas was trying to trade in their Bob Mackie bodysuits for Hypebeast Fear of God sweats. That is, unless Jesse Phillips has anything to do about it.
Phillips is a costumer who has been working in entertainment for almost two decades. He has experience working on some of the most iconic shows on the Las Vegas Strip with headliners such as Katy Perry, Elton John, Carrie Underwood, and everyone at Super Bowl XLVIII (just to name a few!). In 2009, he was on the wardrobe team for Jubilee, the Don Arden-helmed showgirl revue. In the 1980s, Don Arden (and, by extension, his 10 million dollar extravaganza, Jubliee) set the standard for spectacular Vegas shows. Jubliee featured a 3-story tall stage (yes, you read that right), a theatrical replica of the Titanic (that actually sank!), and costumes designed by the world-famous Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee. It’s these costumes that Jesse Phillips would serendipitously follow throughout his career.
After Jubliee closed in 2016, the costumes laid dormant in storage for years. That was until none other than Dita Von Teese decided to dig them up and repurpose them for her burlesque show Dita Las Vegas at the Horseshoe Hotel. Phillips worked wardrobe for the show, repairing feather headpieces and fixing metal bras.
“Tending to showgirl costumes presents a list of challenges,” says Phillips, “You really have to know how to solder. They need constant repair. You have to amplify” [(read: fluff and shine so they look good on stage) “...maintain the constantly shedding feathers, and solder and welt. The hats have to be perfectly balanced so they don’t catch wind as the showgirls walk… it really is a full time job.”
It was during the run of Dita Las Vegas that director Gia Coppola and her mother, costume designer Jacqui Getty, approached Von Teese looking to rent out the costumes for a little movie they were working on with Pamela Anderson called The Last Showgirl. The movie centers around Anderson’s character, Shelley, a longtime Vegas showgirl who, after learning that her show is closing, begins to grapple with not only her future as a performer but her place and purpose in the world. Obviously, for a big Coppola picture such as this, you want some out-of-this-world costuming! It was at this time that Jose Rodrigo, the “keeper of the keys” (read: wardrobe head intimately familiar with the stunning Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee looks) was brought onto the team.
“Jose called me and said you have to be a part of this” says Phillips. “I did a fitting with Pam, I met Jacqui and we all just clicked. She was like: you’re in. It’s been such a wonderful experience ever since.”
For The Last Showgirl, Phillips’ working timeline looked a little like this: pre-production was 3-4 weeks on location in Vegas (simple enough, since he already lived there!) and a couple of weeks doing fittings for both Pamela Anderson and Kiernan Shipka. So, all-in-all, about two months of movie magic. “It really was a whirlwind experience. I’d love to do more film and television work,” says Phillips. He actually also has a small walk-on role in the movie inspired by his real-life career in the wardrobe department — so, keep your eyes peeled for him in the wings.
Phillips had these final words to say about his experience:
“... it has been a full circle moment for me returning back to the Jubilee Theatre and getting to [utilize] Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee’s costumes again. If you could have told me back in 2009, when I started working at Jubilee, that I would be in this position, I wouldn’t have believed you. Jose and I have to pinch ourselves often. I really think Dita Von Teese got the ball rolling on a lot of this. Her show has revitalized the showgirl image with a breath of fresh air. These [are] costumes, which seems silly calling them that after 40 years; these are costume artifacts, and need to be honored as such [...] I just hope that [the showgirl costumes] sort of revive the history of Las Vegas — that it brings people back to its roots. I mean, the showgirl is the ambassador of the city!”
The Last Showgirl is in theaters everywhere now. 🌀
Kaitlin Owens is HALOSOPE's Archival Fashion Editor and the Editor-in-Chief of Dilettante Magazine. For a closer look at her work, please visit kaitlindotcom.com.