00:00For Taylor Swift, a new album calls for a new fashion era.
00:03And to channel the glitz and glamour of a Las Vegas dancer for the life of a showgirl,
00:08she and longtime stylist Joseph Cassell Falconer turned to a true showbiz icon.
00:17In several sparkling shots from her upcoming records artwork, Swift models one of legendary
00:22designer Bob Mackie's costumes from the famous Sin City spectacular Jubilee.
00:27Dripping with rhinestones and draped with an over-the-top feather boa, her look is one
00:31of the over a thousand Mackie and co-designer Pete Menefee created for the show, which ran
00:36from 1981 to 2016, making it the longest-running review in Vegas history.
00:43This week, I spoke with Jose Rodrigo, a costume designer and Las Vegas native who actually
00:48worked as a dresser on Jubilee.
00:50In recent years, he's borrowed from the show's wardrobe archives for Dita Von Teese's
00:54Vegas residencies, and the 2024 film The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson.
00:59What truly differentiates Mackie from anybody else is that we're looking at 40 years of
01:03these costumes being actively used, worn, and archived.
01:07And yet, when we dusted them off, the vibrancy, the design, and the structure was still there.
01:12They were built with the best of the best, Rodrigo told me.
01:15He is a master at his craft, and his designs have endured decades.
01:19As Mackie himself shared on Instagram Monday, Swift's costume was worn during the jewel
01:23finale sequence of Jubilee, and its bra, undergarments, and armbands are constructed from French wirework
01:29with a blush fabric backing for a racy nude illusion effect.
01:33Rodrigo told me that inside every Jubilee costume, you'll find the names of each showgirl
01:37who's worn it over the years.
01:39The show was closed in the costumes archive for almost 10 years before Dita came in and
01:44dusted them off, so truly, the credit has to be given to her for really reviving the
01:48showgirl aesthetic, he said.
01:50It's possible Von Teese is also to thank for hooking Swift up with her own Jubilee look.
01:55The pair previously collaborated on Swift's bejeweled music video in 2022.
01:59I pulled out all the stops and worked with her costume designer to pull together the right
02:03kind of wardrobe for a PG-rated version of what I do with the martini glass, Von Teese told
02:08me the following year, adding that Swift introduced a whole new generation to what I do.
02:14And what Von Teese and her fellow burlesque artists do isn't easy.
02:17Rodrigo told me authentic showgirl costumes, like those used in Jubilee, can weigh anywhere
02:22from 10 to 40 pounds due to those heavy embellishments.
02:26He also said Swift definitely did her historic look justice, telling me,
02:31I don't think she could have done a better job.
02:33Everything was really, truly thoughtful, and the way that she wears everything, the way that
02:37it was styled, is, I think, true to the original.
02:40There's still that reverence to the original design.
02:43For more celebrity fashion, head to Page Six Style.
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