Few entertainers have dressed for the stage quite like Liberace. The American pianist, who called himself “Mr Showmanship”, turned every concert into a parade of sequins, feathers, furs and rhinestones, and Vanity Fair Italia has marked his return to the spotlight with a look back at twenty of his most extravagant outfits. The timing is apt: his story has just been retold on stage in Scotland.
A new play at Pitlochry
Martin Sherman’s new play I’ll Be Seeing You had its world premiere at Pitlochry Festival Theatre this autumn, running until 11 October 2026. Directed by Alan Cumming and Ben Occhipinti and staged with the blessing of the Liberace Foundation, it stars Simon Russell Beale as Liberace and Fra Fee as a young writer who sets out to write a play about him while disliking everything he stands for. Reviewing it for The Guardian, Mark Fisher described Russell Beale’s Liberace as a life force too great to be tamed. It follows earlier screen portraits, most famously Steven Soderbergh’s film Behind the Candelabra.
Months of work for a single costume
Liberace began his career in a sober dinner suit, but by the 1970s his wardrobe had become part of the act. Many of his most famous looks were made by the costume designer Michael Travis, who had worked alongside the legendary Edith Head and spent around sixteen years dressing Liberace, until the performer’s death in 1987. According to Variety and the Los Angeles Times, some of these creations, heavy with jewels, beads, sequins, crystals, feathers and fur, weighed more than 100 pounds. The 1979 “flame” costume was covered in small mirrors and 1,600 tiny lights.
The costume designers Connie Furr Soloman and Jan Jewett documented the collection in their 2013 book Liberace Extravaganza!. Speaking to Fashionista, Soloman explained that the high, sturdy heels made for him by the Los Angeles shoemaker Pasquale Di Fabrizio did more than add height: as Travis noted, they helped balance the weight of those enormous capes. Among the moments Vanity Fair Italia recalls are his entrance at Radio City Music Hall in a pink feathered cape, emerging from a giant Fabergé-style egg, and arriving on stage in a Rolls-Royce wrapped in a fur with a long train.
His influence is still easy to spot in the stage wardrobes of performers such as Cher, Madonna and Lady Gaga. For a little of that sparkle without the 100-pound cape, try a bold statement piece from our multi-gemstone rings, a soft pink stone from our morganite rings, a cocktail ring from our men’s rings or a coordinated look from our jewellery sets.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (17 October 2026); Pitlochry Festival Theatre; The Guardian (27 September 2026); Variety (2014); Los Angeles Times (2014); Fashionista (2013); HarperCollins.
