Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s been a hell of a week. My intention today was to have a tip inspired by Dixie Evans, The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, because today would have been her 100th birthday. However, Dixie is going to have to share the limelight with two icons we lost: Dolly Parton and Tim Curry.

Commit to your character.

All three of them created or played big characters and embodied them fully. You can do it too! Throw yourself whole-heartedly into whatever you are performing.

An extra tip in honor of Dolly Parton: Be kind. Also, read a book.

An extra tip in honor of Tim Curry: Don’t tell a joke, be the joke. (for example, see Muppet Treasure Island)

Dear Constant Reader,

I wasn’t paying attention, but last week was my 750th tip! It probably should have been something more momentous than a tip about laundry, but c’est la vie. Here’s one of those tips I was sure I’d given you before, but apparently not.

If you’re going to do a stocking peel, you’re going to need to do a shoe remove first.

Unless you’re just going to roll your stockings down to your ankles and leave them there, the shoes have to come off.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Before I get to your tip, I’m thrilled to announce that the autumn classes at BABE are open for registration!

As usual, we have Introduction to Burlesque every month. In September and October our advanced class will be Burlesque Your Way: Halloween Edition. I am super-excited for this version of our act creation course because I’m teaching it with Devastasia and to say we love Halloween is an understatement. I can’t wait to see what the students come up with! In November Devastasia is going to teach chair dance for the first time since we moved to this studio.

And for those of you who aren’t local (who just don’t like to go out), I’m teaching monthly on-line workshops. This coming Tuesday is on fan dance, next month is all about stockings, October will be seasonally appropriate with hot to make your own witch hat, and I’m still deciding on November’s topic. Suggestions?

And now, here’s your tip:

When in doubt, hand wash in cold water and air dry flat.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

Here it is, Friday again. And we’ve got a heat advisory again. I hope you all are staying cool. Which leads me to your tip.

Bring a fan to shows.

Not that kind of fan that cheers for you. And not the big feather kind either. A folding fan.

It helps keep you cool backstage. It’s also useful for drying your liquid liner or eyelash glue. Helps with hot flashes as well! In the summer I always have a folding fan in my purse, which I will employ whenever I think it’s too hot. (Downtown Crossing station, I’m looking at you!)

You can also get small electric fans that fold up pretty small and charge with a USB. Those are nice for sharing the breeze with everyone else in the dressing room

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! On this last day of July, what are you looking forward to in August? Here’s you tip!

When practicing traveling turns, follow a line on the floor.

To move in a nice straight line across stage, give yourself a guide when practicing. If your floor doesn’t have convenient lines, lay out a piece of tape. If you start standing on the line and end on it, you’ve done it! If not, where you end up will let you know how you need to correct your course.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

Before we get to your tip, I want to remind you about my on-line classes. The third Tuesday of every month at 7pm Eastern I’m offering a talk on history or costuming or whatever strikes my fancy. I’m having a great time nerding out, researching, and creating theses classes and presentations for you. If you can’t make the class, you’ll still get the recording and resources.

Upcoming workshops are:

• July 21, Achieving Closure: how to choose and use the best fastener to keep you costume on until the moment it comes off


• August 18, Fan Dance Uncovered, the history of fan dance and some of its foremost practitioners, plus how it influenced everything from fine art to ashtrays.


• September 15, Stalking the Stocking, part lecture, part practicum. You’ll learn hosiery history and then learn stocking peels and how to strip out of a garter belt.

And now, here’s your tip!

If you’re bringing in any kind of tech for your act, test it at home and then test it again at the venue.

You want to make sure whatever you’re using (a black light, a fan, a projector, &c.) works before you use it in your performance. You should be confident that it works before you leave for the show, so that if it doesn’t when you try it out at the venue, you know the problem is not with the equipment and it’s a little easier to troubleshoot.

Hint: sometimes the issue is a dead outlet. This is where last week’s tip about the extension cord comes in handy.

If, for whatever reason, it really won’t work, you’ll know before you hit the stage and can make any changes to your act that are needed. It may be frustrating, but at least the audience won’t know that something went wrong.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.