Feathers and Burlesque
Feathers and flirtation have been bosom buddies for hundreds of years, starting with the Parisian Cancan dance craze in the 1800s, all the way up to the Las Vegas showgirl. But is there something about feathers and femininity that goes deeper than fashion?
Feathers first became synonymous with provocative costuming in the Parisian dance hall era, which reached its peak during the 1890s at massive venues like the Jardin de Paris and the Moulin Rouge. Female dance hall stars like Jane Avril and La Goulue added a touch of glamour to their Cancan-ready ensembles with feathers, which up until that time had widely been status symbols tucked into pompadours and adorning the rich garments of the gentry.
The jazz era saw feathers become fashionable in the mainstream, thanks to new developments in artificial feathers, but in the back alleys and smoke-filled rooms of the underground they were serving another purpose as the accoutrements of a new generation of striptease and burlesque dancers. Sally Rand, a 1930s burlesque artist, popularized the use of ostrich feathers in her signature fan dance, an innovation which influenced both low and high choreography.
It was around this time that the Las Vegas-style showgirl made her first appearance. A natural product of a culture that had embraced the Ziegfeld girls and the Rockettes, showgirls were chorus girls who straddled the line of acceptability through their brand of neutered striptease, and feathers became a necessary component to their illusion. A new aesthetic developed, with feathers serving as indicators of youthful beauty and feminine intrigue large plumes sprouting from headdresses, long sweeping trains sprouting from bustles, and the iconic feather boa were now established symbols of sexual power. Today, with performers like Dita Von Teese and countless contemporary burlesque troupes bringing the sophisticated striptease back into the mainstream, flirty feathered females have never been more visible.
But what does this association between feathers and femininity say about us? Women have long been compared to birds, from British slang ("bird") to the widespread "chick." Even the use of the trapeze or perch in some burlesque performances evokes an avian sensibility. The accompanying literature from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibit "WILD Fashion Untamed" makes reference to "The fantastical feathered costumes of Las Vegas showgirls' iconic symbols of femininity born out of male fantasies of the "kept" or "caged" woman?" But is it really as simple as a subconscious male desire to keep women locked up as sex slaves? It seems like these plumed and pampered showgirls are usually positioned as elevated and authoritative rather than submissive. In fact, it was the spunkiness of performers like the Moulin Rouge's La Goulue, who was known for scandalously kicking off men's hats and downing their drinks while working the room, which made them such beloved stars.
If anything, feathers seem to symbolize the female's power over men and their wallets, something which men both fear and desire. It may be no coincidence that the first appearance of modern showgirls in popular culture was in the "Gold Diggers" film series of the 1920s and '30s. You might say that diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but feathers are what help her get those rocks.