I'm currently reading Cassandra Peterson's memoir, Cruelly Yours, Elvira, and in it she discusses her time as a showgirl at length. It made me wonder - how did this specific form of entertainer come to be and how did they catch on? How did the styles of costuming develop? Did they become more or less concealing as time went on? And did standards for their looks or behavior change over time?
Peterson's description of the shows themselves in her time sounds a lot like the Ziegfeld Follies, but there's a pretty big stretch of time between the end of the Follies and the start of the Las Vegas strip.
Ok, here's my attempt. Sorry for the delay, but I'm hoping that this passes the mod's standards.
The first showgirls were seen in France, at the Folies Bergere and the Moulin Rouge. Originally home of can-can dancers in the late 1800s, the turn of the century brought new fashions and a more risque presentation.
Americans got a taste of the Folies through the Ziegfeld Follies, which ran from 1907-1936, and inspired the 1945 film of the same name. Both shows had large production budgets with lines of beautiful chorus girls in fantastic costumes, interspersed with singing, comedy, and small skits. In 1918, Folies Bergere presents nude acts in the revue. New York's decency laws didn't quite allow Ziegfeld to go that far. While the Ziegfeld Follies died with their creator, the Folies Bergere rolled on.
At this time, Las Vegas was a train station on the way from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, not the roaring party town we know today. But the conditions were prime for a good time – gambling and prostitution were both legal in the state. With the construction of Hoover Dam from 1931-33, Las Vegas became the party town it is today. Casinos grew, although they were still gambling halls and not the massive resorts we have now.
That all changed in 1941 with the opening of the El Rancho Vegas. This was the forefather of our current casino-resorts. Back then, the resort's amenities included a pool and a restaurant with the critical dance floor for performances. Between big acts, the El Rancho Starlets were the first iteration of showgirls in Las Vegas. Eventually, the troupe got sexier as the George Moro dancers, known for their cheeky dice-themed costumes. In this phase, our showgirls are truly a chorus line. No big headdresses and no nudity – yet.
That comes almost 10 years later, after the war and in the Rat Pack era. Mob money and connections are flowing freely, and the concept shown at the El Rancho Vegas has proven to be a success. The entertainment is a lure to bring people into the resort, and once there, they'll gamble too. Hotels pop up ever further south along Highway 91 (now the Strip), each bigger and better than the last, hoping to catch visitors from California on their way to the city of Las Vegas.
In 1957, Harold Minsky, a cabaret and burlesque show manager from New York, opens a topless revue at the Dunes. Minksy's show is more burlesque than showgirls – the 1958 show featured burlesque legend Tempest Storm. Some of the costumes are featured in the University of Nevada – Las Vegas Digital Collections.
In 1946, the Lido opens in Paris. This stunning nightclub recruits the Folies Bergere's dance troupe, the Bluebell Dancers, in 1948. Donn Arden, a dancer and choreographer, brought the French sophistication of the Lido de Paris to the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas ten years later, after Minsky showed that nudity wouldn't get you arrested or closed down.
Arden is attributed with being the father of the Vegas showgirl. His standards required small, natural breasts and a height of 5'8” or more, along with professional dancer training. He had a specific way that a dancer should walk on stage that rotated the hip, and made the dancer float sensually across the stage.
The original Folies Bergere hit back with a show at the Tropicana a year later. And the competition heats up. A review of the Showgirl UNLV Digital Collections traces the development of showgirl costumes from the 50s through the 90s. You can see the costumes getting more elaborate – more rhinestones, more feathers, bigger headdresses, more unique design features. In some ways, dancers are more covered than in Minsky's show in the late 50s, which features a costume of a sheer body stocking with just a small seashell over the crotch. That's worlds apart from the swirling spandex concoctions of the 70s and 80s.
The next major milestone in showgirl history would be the introduction of Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee. Their designs for 1974's “Hallelujah Hollywood” and 1980's “Jubilee!” took the headdresses and feathers over the top, full 80s-style.
“Jubilee!” was the last to close in 2013. There are no current showgirl revues in Las Vegas, and no true showgirls. Some current productions, like “V The Ultimate Variety Show” include a showgirl segment, but the costumes and physical requirements are not as stringent or elaborate as in a full-scale showgirl revue.
Resources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/13/arts/dance/13kine.html
https://www.unlv.edu/news/article/lasting-legacy-las-vegas-showgirls
https://lasvegasweekly.com/photos/galleries/2014/sep/11/dottie-dee-vintage-vegas-showgirl-photos/#/0
https://unlvwriters.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/anatomy-of-a-showgirl/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-28-ca-2779-story.html
https://lasvegassun.com/photos/1905/may/15/3937/
http://www.shoppbs.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/peopleevents/p_entertainers.html
https://issuu.com/vegasseven/docs/20121108
https://books.google.com/books?id=5tt8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA240&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false