What does Las Vegas look like? The images that spring to mind to answer that question are probably much different than they would have been 20, 10 or even five years ago, but it goes without saying that this city has an iconography all its own. It’s a place built on entertainment, and the way entertainment looks here evolves faster all the time.

One good way to get a sense of it is to focus on what Las Vegas entertainers look like right now. Some of the newest sensations on the Strip are using costume design in new and different ways, taking advantage of trends and technology to dramatic effect.

Costuming has always complemented the various dynamic elements that go into staging a Vegas show, but one could make a case that some of today’s productions use these outfits as the foundation of the performance. That’s an endeavor that requires maximum creativity and bold imagination.

ILUMINATE

Perhaps more than any other production on the Las Vegas Strip, the costumes make the show in the innovative iLuminate at the Strat Theater. The custom-made light suits worn by the dancers in the cast help to create the personality of the characters, serve as set designs on an almost completely dark stage and move with the music in multiple ways. These costumes are the canvas and the paints, brought to life by constant collaboration between art and technology.

“Every single moment is programmed so there are literally millions of cues running in this show,” iLuminate creator Miral Kotb says. “Not only are the dancers wearing the suits, but each light suit has many colors, and each part of the body can be a different color. It all depends on the music we’re using and the mood we want to create for each scene.”

Once a costume is designed and created, the real work begins, testing and fine-tuning to discover its visual capabilities and the way it fits into the story of the show. Kotb’s talented team kicks around new ideas every week, but she’s the maestro, writing code that becomes choreography for each suit, during every song, for every show.

“The preproduction and rehearsals are intense, but once the show opens, you can still see me at the computer nudging something a bit or adding a little something,” she says. “I call it adding more sparkle.” iluminate.com.

MAYFAIR SUPPER CLUB

After opening at the end of 2019, this glamorous Bellagio venue established a reputation as one of the only live entertainment hot spots on the Strip during the earliest days of the pandemic. It’s always been a comprehensive experience recalling different glorious eras of Las Vegas entertainment, and the timelessly fashionable apparel worn by the cast goes a long way in setting the mood. Mayfair is a memory, perhaps something you recall from your history or someone else’s, or maybe a new one, a piece of Vegas that will stick with you forever.

“We were inspired by the opulent fashion of flappers in the 1920s,” says No Ceilings Entertainment Art Director Phil Shaw, “the likes of Josephine Baker in the French film ZouZou and old Hollywood starlets from the 1950s, while bringing that into 2022 with more modern cuts as well as nods to designers like Thierry Mugler.” Themayfairlv.com.

KATY PERRY: PLAY

You expect to see the star of the show in dazzling attire when you buy a ticket for a headlining residency show on the Strip. But the latest wave of these concert spectaculars has elevated costuming not only for the neon names on the marquee, but also for their talented supporting casts. In the case of Katy Perry’s Play production at Resorts World Theater, that extends to the bikini worn by the dancing frog she smooches while singing “I Kissed a Girl.” Perry’s campy, colorful fashion sense is on full display throughout the bombastic show, but her band and dancers are clad in equally exhilarating outfits. There’s even a runway show set in a garbage can in the fourth act—trust us, it works—with fanastically fierce looks fashioned from trash. The attention to detail is unequaled. Katyperry.com.

RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE LIVE

It’s hard to imagine fabulous fashion has played a more prominent role in any Las Vegas production than it does in RuPaul’s Drag Race Live at the Flamingo Showroom. The reality TV competition series that inspired the live show is built on the individual style and je ne sais quoi of each contestant, and the Vegas version is a celebratory showcase of these entertainers and drag culture in general.

“Our clothes are like a fingerprint to us and what we do in drag,” says Jaida Essence Hall, one of four new queens who recently joined the rotating cast. “Inspiration can come from a million different places, and your image can always change. It can be something wild or something more subtle.”

Onstage at the Flamingo, whether for a runway-style presentation or a lip-sync duel, each costume is more eye-popping than the last. In this world, you are what you wear, and then some. Flamingo.com.

EXTRAVAGANZA: THE VEGAS SPECTACULAR

Showgirls are forever. When director and producer Hanoch Rosenn had the opportunity to bring a second show to Las Vegas in the historic Jubilee Theater at Bally’s—a showroom that had been designated for a wholesale renovation that, thankfully, didn’t happen—there was only one way to go.

Extravaganza honors a classic Vegas experience and 35 years of performances of the legendary Jubilee! in the same space, generously splashing modern fun all over the traditional variety show. Its showgirl costumes are a sleek update, allowing the performers to shift quickly into different styles of dance and settings that power the show’s story, but the iconic look remains. The story follows a guy’s whirlwind visit to Vegas, where he falls in love with a showgirl, naturally. Caesars.com/ballys-las-vegas.

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