Fashion and the Showgirl, Part II (Dressed Classic)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Dressed – The History of Fashion

Episode: Fashion and the Showgirl, Part II (Dressed Classic)

Date: October 10, 2025

Hosts: April Callahan & Cassidy Zachary

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Episode Overview

This episode is the second part in a two-part exploration of the symbiotic relationship between fashion and the showgirl, examining both celebratory and problematic aspects. While the previous episode charted the early 20th-century origins—particularly focusing on white showgirls—the hosts now delve into the racialized underpinnings of the industry, the groundbreaking careers and style of Black showgirls like Florence Mills and Josephine Baker, and the enduring influence of showgirl aesthetics on fashion designers up to the present day.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Racialized Ideal of the “American Girl” in Early Showgirl Productions

• Florenz Ziegfeld and the “Glorified American Girl”

  • Ziegfeld’s 1922 motto and 1931 textile collection, “Glorifying the American Girl,” idealized white, heterosexual American women ([02:31]).
  • White showgirls donned “ethnic masquerade” costumes, appropriating cultures through “overtly eroticized, exoticized, and racialized” ensemble designs ([02:31]).

• Exclusion and Stereotyping of Women of Color

  • Despite the presence of performers of color in Revue ensembles, all official Ziegfeld Girls were white.
  • The hosts reference further discussion in another episode: “fashioning white femininity with Vicki Pass” ([03:30]).

2. Black Showgirls and the Creation of a Distinct Black Beauty Standard

• Esperanza Humphrey’s Scholarship

  • Black chorus girls “claimed a black is beautiful aesthetic before the phrase even came into the vernacular”—through intellect, performance, and fashion ([03:53], quoting Humphrey).
  • Florence Mills’s rise to fame in “Blackbirds” (1926) marked a turning point ([04:16]).

• Brown Skin Models & Rejection of Stereotypes

  • Irving Miller’s “Brown Skin Models” (1925) shifted away from racist tropes, glorifying Black women’s beauty and style ([04:55]).
  • These productions adapted high fashion’s promotional approach, centering Black models.

• Academic Analysis by Elspeth Brown

  • Miller’s revue merged the traditions of the “art model” and the “couture model,” celebrating—rather than denigrating—Black women’s sexuality and elegance ([05:37]).

3. Josephine Baker’s Subversive Legacy

• Biographical Highlights

  • Born Freda McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, and moved to New York City at 15, renaming herself Josephine Baker ([06:27]).
  • Starred in “Shuffle Along” (1921), a milestone in the Harlem Renaissance ([07:04]).

• Meteoric Rise in Paris

  • Gained headliner status at the Folies Bergère by 20, performing in dazzling, often revealing costumes ([07:53]).
  • Hosted frame: “She flips and dances across the stage...surrounded by a cast of be-feathered and be-sequined showgirls who really serve as accessories to Baker’s undeniable stage presence and charm.” – Cassidy ([07:53])

• Banana Skirt as Icon and Controversy

  • The famous—and problematic—banana skirt simultaneously advanced racist colonial fantasies and let Baker subvert them:
  • “By reclaiming her image, she advanced her career in ways unprecedented for a woman of that time.” – Morgan Jerkins, Vogue ([09:37], quoting Jerkins).

• Fashion as Reputation and Power

  • Outfitted in Paris’ finest, Baker shifted from “a checkered dress with pockets...over my checkered blouse” to couture after becoming muse and lover to Paul Poiret:
  • “I felt like a sea goddess emerging from the foam.” – Josephine Baker ([10:43], quoting Baker’s memoirs).
  • After Poiret, she collaborated with designers like Madeline Vionnet, Jean Patou, and furrier Max, graced magazine covers, and licensed beauty products ([11:47]).

• Double Edged Reception in America

  • Vogue’s article (“Was it Josephine Baker who made us all crave brown skins or wasn’t it?”) acknowledged her influence but continued to perpetuate racist stereotypes ([12:27]).
  • Facing ongoing discrimination in the US, Baker made her permanent home (and fame) in France ([13:26]).

• Later Years & Enduring Glamour

  • Even late in life, insisted on couture for appearances: “Haute couture or bust.” ([14:17])
  • Her final performances, including the Battle of Versailles (1973), symbolized triumph over racism and became pivotal for Black models in America, such as Pat Cleveland ([15:41]).

Notable Quote

“Josephine was dressed in a nude cat suit, her long legs covered in fishnet stockings with pearls dripping off of them. Her headdress of ostrich plumes was so enormous and high that I figured whatever balance she had came from having to hold up that thing.”
— Pat Cleveland, recalling the Battle of Versailles encounter ([16:13])

4. The Showgirl as Fashion Muse: Designers Past and Present

• Bob Mackie: Carrying the Showgirl Torch

  • Built a career on showgirl glamour, starting as a costume designer and later designing Las Vegas revues (“Hallelujah Hollywood” and “Jubilee”).
  • Known for collaborations with Carol Burnett (the curtain dress, 1976) and especially Cher ([23:05]–[24:28]).
  • “There was nothing he designed that I wouldn’t wear. He’d walk the line between fashion and costume. And that is my favorite place to go.” – Cher ([24:28])

• High Fashion’s Ongoing Obsession

  • John Galliano (Christian Dior, early 2000s): Infamous for “skimpy showgirl dresses and hugely extravagant feathered headdresses” on the runway ([26:12]).
  • Thierry Mugler, known for transforming models through feathered showgirl looks ([27:10]).
  • Madame Nicole, legendary feathersmith, noted for supplying iconic plumes:

  “Normally it’s Le Mair for fashion, but when they need very specific things, very spectacular things, they come to me.” ([27:58])

• Jean Paul Gaultier: A Lifelong Dream

  • Gaultier’s inspiration began in childhood, sketching showgirls after watching the Folies Bergère on TV:
    • “The first cone bra I did was for my teddy bear, not for Madonna…” ([28:42])
  • His “Fashion Freak Show” (2018) at the Folies Bergère pays homage, blending review, fashion show, and autobiography—features gender fluid Josephine Baker tributes by Anna Cleveland ([30:00]).
  • Hosts wryly note Gaultier’s is hardly the “first” hybrid of music hall and runway ([30:51]).

5. The Enduring Power and Fantasy of the Showgirl

• The hosts close by framing the showgirl as timeless comfort and escapism, extolling “escapism, unbridled fantasy” as cultural salve in difficult times ([31:28]).
  • “She remains more important and more relevant than ever as a much-needed respite from the unbelievable horrors that this year has brought.” – Cassidy Zachary ([31:28])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote / Moment | |-----------|---------|----------------| |03:53| Cassidy (quoting Esperanza Humphrey) | “How did Black chorus girls claim a black is beautiful aesthetic before the phrase even came into the vernacular?...Through intellect, through performance, and, most importantly, through fashion.”| |07:53| Cassidy | “She flips and dances across the stage...surrounded by a cast of be-feathered and be-sequined showgirls who really serve as accessories to Baker’s undeniable stage presence and charm.”| |09:37| Cassidy (quoting Morgan Jerkins) | “When she swung on stage in that fiercely swinging banana skirt in 1926, Baker brilliantly manipulated the white male imagination...[she] clowned and seduced and subverted stereotypes. By reclaiming her image, she advanced her career in ways unprecedented for a woman of that time.”| |10:43| Cassidy (quoting Josephine Baker) | “It looked like a flowing river. Monsieur Poiret poured the gleaming torrent over me, rolled me up in it, draped it over my body, pulled it tight, ordered me to walk, then loosened it around my legs. I felt like a sea goddess emerging from the foam.”| |12:27| April | “...that all smart women began furling their parasols and deciding that it would be amusing to be brown. But did the dazzling effect of her savage young limbs really inspire those first devotees, or would they have done it without her?” (Vogue on Baker)| |16:13| Cassidy (quoting Pat Cleveland) | “Josephine was dressed in a nude cat suit, her long legs covered in fishnet stockings with pearls dripping off of them. Her headdress of ostrich plumes was so enormous and high that I figured whatever balance she had came from having to hold up that thing.”| |24:28| April (quoting Cher) | “There was nothing he designed that I wouldn’t wear. He’d walk the line between fashion and costume. And that is my favorite place to go.”| |27:58| April (quoting Madame Nicole) | “Normally it’s Le Mair for fashion, but when they need very specific things, very spectacular things, they come to me.”| |28:42| Cassidy (quoting Jean Paul Gaultier) | “The first cone bra I did was for my teddy bear, not for Madonna. I had a strawberry box for the stage and I put a lot of feathers on my teddy bear for the head. Used feathers from my cleaning brush for the finale.”| |31:28| Cassidy | “She remains more important and more relevant than ever as a much-needed respite from the unbelievable horrors that this year has brought.”|

Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:38] — Episode purpose and focus on racial dynamics in showgirl history
• [03:53] — “Fashioning the Black Chorus Girl” and the Black beauty standard
• [06:27] — Josephine Baker's biography and rise to fame
• [09:37] — The “banana skirt” as subversion of stereotype
• [10:43] — Baker’s transformation by Parisian couture designers
• [12:27] — Racism in US coverage of Baker
• [15:41] — Baker’s impact at the Battle of Versailles (1973) and legacy
• [23:05] — Bob Mackie’s contributions and collaborations
• [26:12] — John Galliano and the showgirl in high fashion
• [27:58] — The artistry of featherwork in fashion (Madame Nicole)
• [28:42] — Jean Paul Gaultier’s lifelong obsession and the “Fashion Freak Show”
• [31:28] — Reflection on the showgirl’s power as cultural fantasy

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Concluding Thoughts

The episode illuminates the complex world of showgirls: from the exclusionary, racialized ideals behind early Ziegfeld Follies to the peerless glamour and agency of Black performers like Josephine Baker, who turned stereotyping on its head and became enduring style icons. Through the 20th and 21st centuries, the showgirl remains a muse—her image inspiring legendary designers (Mackie, Galliano, Mugler, Gaultier) and serving as a symbol of escapism, fantasy, and resilience.

The hosts invite listeners to revel in the continued legacy of the showgirl—“the awe-inspiring beauty and charms...as seen throughout history and will continue to be seen today and into the future” ([31:28])—while tying these discussions to fashion’s ongoing cultural relevance.

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Recommended Companion Episodes:

• Fashioning White Femininity (with Vicki Pass)
• Fashion and the Spectacle: The Battle of Versailles (with Robin Givhan)
• Patrick Kelly (with Eric Darnell Pritchard)
• The Joy of Fashion (with Pat Cleveland)

For More: Find links to visuals, book recommendations, and more at the Dressed website and on their social feeds.

Transcript

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Over 500 plus shows.

[C]

With over 7 billion people in the world, we all have one thing in common. Every day we all get dressed.

[D]

Welcome to Dressed the History of Fashion, a podcast where we explore the who, what, when of why we wear. We are fashion historians and your hosts.

[C]

April Callahan and Cassidy Zachary. Well, welcome back dress listeners to part two of our two part episode on the history of the relationship between fashion and showgirl. Earlier this week, we explored this relationship's early 20th century incarnations, including the collaboration between fashion designer Lucille Lady Duff Gordon and the music hall impresario Florenz Ziegfeld that introduced high fashion and the model showgirl to the music hall stage. But what we have not yet discussed are the racialized and racist under trappings that really characterize many of these music hall productions of this time and the many black showgirls who defied these stereotypes to establish and circulate their own standards of American beauty. That really challenged the Ziegfeld showgirl's embodiment of the quote, unquote, all American, all white beauty ideal.

[D]

The quote unquote glorified American girl became Ziegfeld's official motto in 1922. And in 1931, he even debuted a collection of textile designs for the Gold Fabrics Corporation entitled Glorifying the American Girl, in which all of the prints were, quote, inspired directly by some of the Follies beauties who are considered typically American. End quote. And of course, when he says typically American and all American, Ziegfeld is really referring to exclusively white heterosexual American women. And while performers of color did appear in the Folly reviews, all of the Ziegfeld girls were white. Of course, this fact did not prevent the presence of numerous ethnic masquerades in the Ziegfeld Follies, with the Ziegfeld girls literally putting on and taking off different cultural identities with any number of overtly eroticized, exoticized and racialized costumes. The same rang true in reviews across America and Europe.

[C]

And of course, if you want to hear more about the ethnic masquerade, you can listen to our episode with Vicki Pass from earlier this year on fashioning white femininity. And so you can definitely check that out. So the question is just how did women performers of color carve out a space for themselves in this really overtly racist and exclusionary climate? And I'm actually very grateful to Esperanza Humphrey, who recently published an article entitled Fashioning the Black Chorus Girl on the Fashion and Race Database. And this article directly speaks to this very topic. And Humphrey writes, quote, how did black chorus girls claim a black is beautiful aesthetic before the phrase even came into the vernacular? And she answers, through intellect, through performance, and most importantly, through fashion.

[D]

Humphrey writes about how pioneering black performers such as Florence Mills helped to define a new standard of beauty for black women divorced from that of their white counterparts. Mills rose to fame and fashion leader status thanks to her starring role in the 1926 musical review Blackbirds. According to Humphrey, quote, prior to the rise in fame of Mills, chorus girls existed to further perpetuate the exotic tropes that aided in the subjugation and assault of black women, end quote. The 1920s, however, witnessed a noted shift in the ways in which black women were represented in all black reviews.

[C]

So take, for instance, shows like Irving Miller's 1925 smash hit musical review entitled Brown Skin Models. And this review really moved away from racist tropes and stereotypes and instead promoted and celebrated black women in ways only previously reserved for their white counterparts. So this show is really inspired by the Ziegfeld Follies. And Miller similarly used model showgirls to mark market the latest fashions to audiences. However, where Ziegfeld had only ever been glorifying the white American girl, Miller's spectacular production, which actually toured in the United States and Canada for over 30 years, while Miller succeeded in, quote, glorifying the brown skin girl, end quote.

[D]

In her recently published book work, A Queer History of Modeling, cultural theorist Elspeth Brown writes about the ways in which Miller's review, quote, brought together two different aspects of modeling. The long established discourse of the art model with her relationship to aesthetics, the fine arts and transgressive sexuality, and the Contemporary Couture's clothes model, whose performances of stately femininity and opulent costumes had defined Ziegfeld's model showgirls, end quote. So in a series of comedic sketches, tableaux vivants and dress promenades, Miller celebrated black women's sexuality, beauty and fashionability in ways that countered rather than reinforced the racist, overtly sexualized stereotypes which had been rooted in slavery and that had long been used to devalue and debase them as women.

[C]

The celebrity of many of these music hall stars, like Florence Miller, were instrumental also in redefining the representation of black women on and off the stage. And no one is perhaps more famous for doing so than one Josephine Baker, arguably the most famous showgirl in history. And she was actually born Frida McDonald, which I had no idea that was her real name. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906, and MacDonald moved to New York City at the age of 15 to fulfill her dreams to become an entertainer. And it was there, in New York City that she renamed herself Josephine Baker.

[D]

Upon arriving in New York, Baker appeared in the chorus line of two wildly successful Broadway reviews. The first was 1921's Shuffle Along, a groundbreaking musical production with an entirely black cast. And creative American writer Langston Hughes credits the production as representing the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. So Baker left New York for Paris at the age of 19, having landed a part in La Revue Negre, which of course opened at the champs Theater in 1925. And Baker's rise to stardom was meteoric, to say the least. You know, just one year after arriving in Paris, she was headlining reviews at the Folies Bergre, just one of numerous music halls and performance spaces that she would appear at over the ensuing decades.

[C]

So Baker really at once embodied and eroticized the showgirl aesthetic. She's often performing bare chested, her chest adorned in jewels. Her frame is surrounded by huge plumed back pieces. And there's actually really wonderful surviving footage of Baker performing in 1931 in a review at the Casino de Paris that reveals her to be quite the dancer and acrobat. It's really fun. She flips and dances across the stage, and she herself is surrounded by a cast of be feathered and besought sparkled showgirls who really serve as accessories to Baker's undeniable stage presence and charm.

[D]

Baker obviously enraptured her audiences with her erotic dance performances, during which she often, as Cass said, performed topless, very scantily clad, and little else but a sparkling leotard, or most famously, or infamously, depending on how you look at it, her banana skirt. And this costume remains the single most iconic costume of Baker's career. Arguably, one could also say, maybe in the entire history of music hall stage performance.

[C]

And as, as April alluded to, Baker's banana skirt is as controversial as it is famous. Her career was in many ways built off of portraying racist colonialist fantasies of hypersexualized, primitive black women and the trope that reviews like brown skinned models were working really hard to counter. However, Baker really used and subverted these racist stereotypes and tropes to her own benefit. And Morgan Jerkins actually wrote an article for Vogue in which she talks about this. And she says, quote, when she swung on stage in that fiercely swinging banana skirt in 1926, Baker brilliantly manipulated the white male imagination. Crossing her eyes, waving her arms, swing her hips, poking out her backside, she clowned and seduced and subverted stereotypes. By reclaiming her image, she advanced her career in ways unprecedented for a woman of that time.

[D]

And Baker might have been parodying racist stereotypes on stage, but off stage, she most clearly understood the value and power inherent in high fashion. She used fashion to project an aura of glamour and sophistication that she maintained until her death in 1975. But more on that after a brief sponsor break.

[C]

Welcome back. When Baker arrived in Paris, she was reportedly wearing the same rather unassuming clothes she wore while an unknown chorus girl in New York City. And according to Baker, this was, quote, a checkered dress with pockets held up by two checkered suspenders over my checkered blouse. But as Baker's star rapidly rose the city of Paris, and most specifically the avant carte fashion designer who lived there, Paul Poiret, and also her one time lover, I should say. He really can be credited with transforming her. And in her memoirs, Baker remembered Pare sculpting a dress directly on her body out, quote, of the most beautiful silvery material I had ever seen. It looked like a flowing river. Monsieur Poiret poured the gleaming torrent over me, rolled me up in it, draped it over my body, pulled it tight, ordered me to walk, then loosened it around my legs. I felt like a sea goddess emerging from the foam. End quote.

[D]

Poiret was only the first of many designers to participate in what became Baker's lifelong love affair with high fashion. Baker's contemporary and Ada Smith recalled that, quote, all the great designers, Paul Pore, Edward Molyneux, Jean Patou, were fighting to dress her. She had an apartment right around the corner from the nightclub. And one day I went there and the clothes were piled high up on the floor. And I said, josephine, why don't you hang these clothes up? Oh, no, Ricky. She said, they're going to take them away tomorrow and bring another pile.

[C]

I love that image.

[D]

This is fantastic.

[C]

Yeah. After a very public fallout with Pare over reportedly unpaid bills in 1926, so Pari sued her for over $200,000, but he lost. So Baker had her pick. After losing Poiret or breaking up with Poire, who knows? She had her pick from designers eager to work with the sensation of Paris. So she collaborated with people like Madeline Vionnet, Jean Patou, and the luxury for a company for her Max. And all of these really helped to secure Baker's high fashion image, as did her appearances in fashion magazines such as Femina and Vogue. Baker also licensed her name to a variety of beauty products.

[D]

And Baker's representation in the American fashion press, however, often belies the racism which drove Baker to permanently relocate to France in 1932. Vogt asked its readers, was it Josephine Baker who made us all crave brown skins or wasn't it? Certainly, we can't deny that it was that very summer when she first swayed from the roof of the Folies Bergere in a banana peel and a diamond necklace, that all smart women began furling their parasols and deciding that it would be amusing to be brown. But did the dazzling effect of her savage young limbs really inspire those first devotees, or would they have done it without her? End quote. And this article acknowledges Baker's undeniable influence while simultaneously continuing to evoke these racist stereotypes that would ultimately undermine the transfer of her European success to America, her home country. She just never simply became as famous in the States as she was in Europe.

[C]

Yeah. And at a certain point, I think she just refused to perform here because it was like performing in front of segregated audiences and just so much more overt racism in America, which is a shame. So Baker's. Because of this, Baker's career progressed outside of America. And along with that, her commitment to high fashion, which really reached its apex in the 1940s and 50s when she began wearing and collaborating with high fashion royalties such as Balenciaga and Dior. Towards the end of her life, Baker adopted a more utilitarian, practical aesthetic in her private life. But her commitment to this really elegant public image really remained undeterred until her death in the 1970s, Baker reportedly agreed to do a documentary with Foley's Bergere author Charles Castle, but only on one condition. Haute Couture or bust.

[D]

And Cassel recalls, quote, I learned that she would require a new wardrobe of clothes to be designed by either Jacques Fath, Christian Dior or Pierre Balmain. End quote. And really, it was the cost of haute couture, combined with Baker's high appearance fee, that led to the film's unfortunate derailment. But Castle was, quote, greatly excited when a year later, Baker opened up the London Palladium, but this time with a new act filled with glamour and glitter, feathers and fantasy. Her artistry and magic undiminished, she took London by storm.

[C]

Glamorous to the very end, Baker performed in a crystal studded bodysuit and feathered turban just two years before her death at the now famous Battle of Versailles. Of course, that was in 1973, and our listeners, of course, probably remember from our Battle of Versailles episode with Robin Gavin that this title was given by the press to a char fashion show event that was created to raise funds to restore Versailles palace. The event playfully pitted American and French fashion designers against each other, with America famously usurping the world's reigning fashion leader, France, to become the battle's quote, unquote winner. And while Baker might have performed for her adopted country of France, her legacy as a pioneering black performer was on full display in the American fashion shows where an unprecedented 10 black models appeared.

[D]

Robin Gavon took this event on as a subject of her 2015 book Battle of Versailles, in which she wrote that, quote, the appearance of this glamorous black woman who had defied American racism to find fame abroad was particularly overwhelming to the young black models who were still coming into their own beauty and their own maturity, end quote. And Pat Cleveland was one of these young models who fought up the courage to actually approach Baker, who she described as, quote, larger than life, near mythic figure. And Cleveland's autobiography, she writes, quote, josephine was dressed in a nude cat suit, her long legs covered in fishnet stockings with pearls dripping off of them. Her headdress of ostrich plumes was so enormous and high that I figured whatever balance she had came from having to hold up that thing.

[C]

And apparently her friend came with her and and plucked a couple of Josephine's feathers off of her boa. And Pat still has one of those feather because it was such a special moment for her. And Cleveland herself, of course, would portray Baker numerous times throughout her modeling career, including in Patrick Kelly's fall winter 1986 collection, which was exclusively dedicated to the performer. Like Baker, Kelly abandoned America for Paris. He really made a name for himself in Paris. As a playful and innovative designer whose designs both celebrated his black heritage while also reclaiming racist imagery of his 1986 collection, Women Wear Daily wrote. Patrick Kelly wound up the Seasons collection at Galerie Colbert with the Wackiest show. His haute couture parody, miniskirt length furs and homage to Josephine Baker managed to wrench laughs from even the most fashion weary buyers. End quote. And these laughs were no doubt inspired by Pat Cleveland's joyous impersonation of Baker. Cleveland claimed dancing and twirling down the Runway in Kelly's version of Baker's famous banana skirt paired with a hot pink bra top.

[D]

And Baker's tremendous legacy exists today, not just in the iconic imagery associated with history's most famous showgirl, but in black performers and models everywhere. She is referenced time and time again. In 2006, Beyonce paid tribute to Baker on what would have been her 100th birthday wearing a banana skirt costume on a televised fashion TV special called Fashion Rocks. And Baker played such a pivotal role throughout Pat Cleveland's life and career that she was a central theme in the 2016 launch party of her memoir Walking with the Muses. And Cleveland performed a song dedicated to Baker and attired all of the models at the event and Vanessa skirts as an homage. And Baker is just one of those showgirls that transcended her profession to become a pop culture icon. So you know her legacy will no doubt go on to inspire future generations as well.

[C]

More Fashion and the Showgirl After a brief sponsor break.

[D]

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[C]

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[C]

While many fashion designers have been inspired by Josephine Baker specifically, many others have been inspired by the iconic showgirl costume of feathers, sequins and towering heels and headwear. And no history of fashion in the Showgirl would be complete without talking about designer Bob Matt, who has built a 50 plus year career out of a reverence for showgirl aesthetics.

[D]

He sure has. And before venturing into fashion Design in the 1980s, Mackie worked for over 20 years as a costume designer for the stage and screen. And his designs with his life partner Ray Ayaan for the film Lady Sings the Blues starring Diana Ross as Billie Holiday actually earned the duo an Oscar nomination in 1973. But really, it was the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas showgirl on which Mackie would really stake his reputation. He designed costumes for two Las Vegas reviews, the Ziegfeld Follies inspired Hallelujah, Hollywood and Jubilee. And the latter only recently closed in 2016 after a 34 year run, which is pretty amazing.

[C]

And one of Mackie's most famous costume designs is not for a showgirl, but rather for a comedian who you all might have heard of Carol Burnett. And I didn't know this. This is the only reason I'm interjecting this here in an episode otherw Showgirls because he designed Burnett's infamous Scarlet o' Hara curtain dress for the Gone with the Wind parody on the Carol Burnett show in 1976. And this dress has undeniably gone down in history as one of the funniest and most enduring costumes of all time. But of course, it's another famed performer to whom Mackie's name remains synonymous. And that performer is Cher.

[D]

Yes, Mackie's collaboration with cher began in 1971 with the Sonny and Cher show and continues he can be credited with the most memorable and controversial looks of the fashion maverick's career, including the notorious Mohawk warrior ensemble worn to the 1986 Oscars. And obviously this sort of culturally appropriated look would never fly today. But the duo collaborated so often that Mackie's partner Raymond called Cher Bob's Barbie doll. And Cher says, quote, there was nothing he designed that I wouldn't wear. He'd walk line between fashion and costume. And that is my favorite place to go, end quote. In 2001, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, or the CFDA, honored Mackie with a special award for his, quote, fashion exuberance. And this award was presented to him by another longtime client and close friend, Diana Ross.

[C]

Mackie told the Wall street journal in 2005 that his relationship to Cher actually hindered his successful transfer from costume to fashion designer, something he first attempted to do in the 1980s. Quote, Nobody felt they could discover me since they already knew who I was. I had a lot of wearable clothes in my fashion collection, but what they thought of me was what I put on Cher, end quote. Of course, Cher can't be entirely to blame for these associations because Mackie would never completely divorce himself from his showgirl aesthetic. The Wall Street Journal also writes that, quote, When Mr. Mackey finally opened a design studio on 7th Avenue in 1980, 1882, his fashion shows, with themes such as Viva Las Vegas in 1990, made him the most theatrical designer of New York's Fashion Week.

[D]

Mackie is only one of several prominent contemporary designers who have toed this line between fashion and costume design in their reverence for the showgirl and the showgirl. Kino makes repeated appearances in the collections of designers like John Galliano during his tenure at Christian Dior. And for the fall 2002 couture collection, women's Wear Daily notes that Galliano sent, quote, skimpy showgirl dresses and hugely extravagant feathered headdresses down the Runway. And he did it again in his 2003 fall winter collection. So both of these collections really embody this over the top display for which Galliano remains known today, of course, alongside his anti Semitic comments, which is the other thing that he remains known for today. We're not going to get into that, but in 2006, Galliano was chosen by performer Kylie Minogue to design the costumes for her showgirl tour.

[C]

So, like Galliano, any number of Thierry Mugler's designs find Preston in the showgirl costume. Vogue actually wrote about how for his fall winter 1997 collection, when Mugler needed to transform model Eva Herzigova into a showgirl with a vast collar of scarlet plumes, he went to none other than Madame Nicole, who holds court at Maison Fevrier. Galliano similarly employed Fefrier, the esteemed feathersmith of the theater trade, in his first showgirl extravaganza for Dior. The same year, Vogue writes, quote, when Nacha's arm was transformed into the head of a circus pony, it was Fevre who supplied the ostrich mane and Ygritte headdress in the same article, Madame Nicole reveals her special connection to fashion. Quote, I really specialize in shows. The Lido, the Moulin Rouge, the Folies Bergere. Normally it's Le Mair for fashion, but when they need very specific things, very spectacular things, they come to me.

[D]

While many fashion designers have found inspiration in the showgirl tradition, it is no more deeply ingrained than in the work of Jean Paul Gaultier, whose admiration for the performers began when he was a very small child. And Gaultier has told Women's wear Daily in 2016, quote, I dreamed of working on a review ever since I was a little boy and I saw the opening night of the Folies Bergere on my grandmother's tv. I got trouble at school the next day because I was sketching girls in feathers and fishnets.

[C]

And this teacher apparently attempted to humiliate him by spanking him in front of the entire class. But I mean, it didn't do anything. He was undeterred after this incident. He said that he went home and then I did a review with my teddy bear at home. I pretended he had breasts. The first comb bra I did was for my teddy bear, not for Madonna. I had a strawberry box for the stage and I put a lot of feathers on my teddy bear for the head. Used feathers from my cleaning brush for the finale.

[D]

And Gaultier landed his first job in fashion at the age of 17 after sending in gold and sequin covered fashion sketches to Pierre Cardin, as indicated by collections such as Paris and its muses, for his haute couture of fall, winter 2000, 2001 collection and also Punk can can, which was his haute couture collection for spring summer 2011. This sort of glitter, glitz and sparkle have remained a staple ever since his teens.

[C]

High memorial.

[D]

Yeah, exactly. And also in perhaps the most highest exemplar of his showgirl admiration, Gaultier created his very own revue. Gaultier's fashion freak show opened in 2018 at that very place that ignited his young passion at the Folies Bergere.

[C]

The show which is directed, I think he has a co director, so he co directs it and of course costumed it. Gaudier costumed it. And it's really a celebration of the designer's incredible life, his love affair with fashion and the showgirls that inspired it all. Naturally, Gaultier turned to his extensive fashion archive to design the costumes. Many fashion shows populate the performance featuring Gaudier's signature designs, including of course, the famous cone bra corset and the white and blue striped sweater with which he remains synonymous today. Also, there are familiar showgirls and showgirls tropes throughout which make appearances, including Josephine Baker, who in a gender bending expression is portrayed both by a man and none other than Anna Cleveland, Pat Cleveland's daughter. So really, the Cleveland Baker legacy continues.

[D]

And no doubt a tour de force of imagery and imaginations, we do find fault with one small element of the show's marketing. The show bills itself as representing a new type of entertainment that merges a Music hall review with a fashion show. So fashion friends, we think Lucille and Florence Ziegfeld, Josephine Baker and Irving Miller all might have a little something to say about that. So Gaultier has certainly built upon and expanded upon this relationship between the stage, the showgirl and fashion that has been in the making for over a century.

[C]

And in these unprecedented times, the showgirl and all that she represents. Escapism, unbridled fantasy really, she remains more important and more relevant than ever as a mother. Much needed respite from the unbelievable horrors that this year has brought. And we really hope that you, because of this, you enjoyed this episode and will join us in continuing to revel in the awe inspiring beauty and charms of the Showgirl as seen throughout history and will continue to be seen today and into the future. And with that, dress listeners, we bid you adieu until next year. We will be back in January to launch season four. Until then, may you contemplate the legacy of fantastical fashions and sparkling showgirls in your closet next time you get dressed.

[D]

And while we go on hiatus for about a month or so, dress listeners, you might consider revisiting some of these episodes that are past podcast episodes that complement today's theme. These episodes include the Gabby D. Lee the Modern Body, Fashion and Spectacle the Battle of Versailles, which was of course an interview with the wonderful Robin Gavan. There's also Patrick Kelly, which is an interview with Eric Darnell Pritchard and of course the Joy of Fashion with none other than Pat Cleveland herself.

[C]

Can you believe, April, that we are already wrapping up season three of dress? To date we have recorded over 200 and the topics just keep on coming. Thanks in large part to our dedicated listeners. We simply could not do this show without so thank you to you all.

[F]

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[C]

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[E]

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[C]

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[E]

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[F]

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[D]

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[F]

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[C]

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[E]

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