Dear Constant Reader,
To refresh stale costumes that can’t be washed or dry cleaned, pack them with a sachet of baking soda to absorb odors and a sachet of lavender to cover any lingering aromas.
Review: Queen of Burlesque
Dear Constant Reader,
Queen of Burlesque: The Autobiography of Yvette Paris by Yvette Paris (1990).
Yvette Paris was a Times Square stripper in the bad old days between the death of classic burlesque and the birth of neo-burlesque.
She started as a fill-in stripper, just because she wanted to see if she could. After a little while, performing as The Minx, she decided her gimmick would be old fashioned burlesque: evening gown, gloves, rhinestone and boas to a bump & grind soundtrack. She was a hit. She decided she’d proven she could do it, so she quit after only a few weeks.
Financial necessity brought her back to the stage, as a go-go dancer. It was hard work, often under hostile conditions. Frequently she feared for her safety. It wasn’t all misery– there are some amusing stories, but they are fewer than the scary ones. When she finally quit dancing, she tried modeling, but she wasn’t making enough to keep her husband from working two jobs. She went back to stripping.
This time she was a gold-star stripper with her old-style burlesque act. The owner of the Harmony Burlesque theatre loved it so much he gave her the title “Queen of Burlesque”. Unfortunately, she couldn’t dance burlesque all the time — girls cycled through the clubs to keep the audiences coming back for new material. In the mean time, she worked as a “booth baby” in a peep show. She later found success as a model and a Marilyn Monroe impersonator.
This was to be part of Prometheus Books series of “sexual autobiographies” about people “whose lives are stigmatized by society”. In this vein, she discusses her thoughts on homosexuality, prostitution, porn, drugs, and other controversial topics.
From the archives
Dear Constant Reader,
Here’s another item from our collection of burlesque memorabilia.
She’s a little beat up from her adventures over the years, but Sally Rand is still lovely, and no doubt was delighted, as promised, to autograph her picture.
Hanging on the Wall
Dear Constant Reader,
Back in February photographer Chris McIntosh came to Unlucky in Love. He took some photos of us on stage and off.
Friday night most of the Babydolls attended his gallery show and the first thing you saw when you walked in was this:
I was so sick during most of Unlucky in Love, but trying gamely to pose in lovely and creative ways. I was just setting up a pose when Chris said something I didn’t quite hear. I turned, raised eyebrows to say “yes?” and he snapped the shutter. I assumed it would be one of the dud shots, but it was one of the best. Someone thought it looked rather Gypsy Rose Lee, but I’m not sure I would go that far.
Chris is really good at capturing split-second moments like my inquiring gaze. There’s one picture of *something* that happened at the Expo. I don’t know what, but there’s clearly a good story there. That’s not to say he doesn’t take good portraits. There’s one of Serendipity Galore that makes her look like a Renaissance burlesque saint.
And this portrait:
This was the true center piece of the gallery show: Evie Sphinx as Columbine from the act “A Harlequin Romance”.
There is also a nice one of Evie and Devora together from that act, looking a bit like superheroes, but it wasn’t in this show.
By the way, Chris was working with actual film for the portrait shoots with us, so I got to see genuine contact sheets as a preview. Does my old fashioned soul good.
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Most bras are right-handed (that is, the right side overlaps the left). If you’re having trouble with a one-handed pop, make sure you’re not trying to use your left hand. Sorry lefties!
Vintage Costumes of Burlesque
Dear Constant Reader,
You know I love burlesque and burlesque history. You may also know that I love costumes and I’m pretty good at making them too. You may not know that I have always wanted to work in a museum. It’s true. I even went to school for Museum Studies. Recently, Scratch allowed me to indulge in my passion for all these things by setting up an exhibit of burlesque costumes at The West End Museum here in Boston.
The folks at Pin Curl Magazine were good enough to do a little feature on the exhibit.
If you want to see the costumes for yourself, they’ll be at The West End Museum until May 12. On May 11th at 7pm there will be a closing reception, which is free. I’ll be there and I’m happy to give you a guided tour of the exhibit.
Review: American Rose
Dear Constant Reader,
Today I review the last of my books about Gypsy Rose Lee.
American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose by Karen Abbott (2010).
Ms. Abbott attempts to strip away the mythology Gypsy created about herself as immortalized in her autobiography and the musical based on it. As well as combing through archives, Ms. Abbott interviewed the two then-living people who knew her best, Gypsy’s son, Erik Lee Preminger, and her sister, June Havoc. Gypsy portrayed her mother as eccentric and driven and the musical turned her into the quintessential stage mother. In American Rose she is revealed to be dangerously unstable and shown to have committed murder more than once. Deceptions abound from the very beginning of Gypsy’s life — she was originally named Ellen June, but a couple of years later her mother gave the name to her baby sister.
The chapters of the book skip around in chronology, starting at the peak of Gypsy’s career, then jumping back to her childhood, then to a chapter on Billy Minsky, then back to 1940, then a return to vaudeville days. It can be a little confusing and is the biggest criticism of most reviews. When Ms. Abbott gets into her subjects’ heads and writes from their perspective, she tends towards the overly dramatic and veers into the realm of fantasy. She’s best when quoting directly from her sources.
I won’t say it’s an enjoyable read, because the portrait she paints is sometimes so horrible that it’s hard to believe either Hovick sister survived their childhood and it’s not surprising that Gypsy grew up, as has been said, allergic to the truth.
Now, there’s at least one more book about Gypsy out there that I’m aware of, Robert Strom’s Lady of Burlesque: The Career of Gypsy Rose Lee, but I don’t have it yet (hint, hint).
Victory Party!
Dear Constant Reader,
A record number of readers have perused yesterday’s missive. I suppose I should post semi-nude pictures of myself more often.
But what I really wanted to do today is invite you to a party. A party to celebrate the Best Burlesque in Boston. A party at a fabulous nightclub. A party with great music. A party with a tea-cup auction. A party with performances by The Boston Babydolls and special guests. A party that’s free.
That’s right. You can attend our Victory Party at The Estate in Boston on May 17th for free. If you wait until the last minute, there’s a $10 cover at the door. Why would you want to wait? Just click HERE, sign up, and guarantee yourself a place on the guest list!
More Glittering
Dear Constant Reader,
Brian Janes asked if I would post a picture of myself holding his book, It’s All That Glitters, on Facebook. So I did.
It’s a somewhat stripped-down portrait — I’m not wearing any makeup, I didn’t do my hair, and that’s just the outfit I happened to be wearing that day. Then I got the idea for a really stripped down picture…
Friday Tip!
Dear Constant Reader,
Count out your rhinestones before you start your project and split them up by garment area.
That way you won’t go overboard on one bra cup and have only a dozen remaining for the other.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 