Everybody has their favourite burlesque star -
for many it’s Dita Von Teese, who seems to have singlehandedly reinvented the
art of burlesque for a modern audience. For others though, it’s a classic star
of stage and screen such as Josephine Baker or Gypsy Rose Lee.
We’re going to take a stroll through the
Burlesque Hall of Fame and very month we’re going to introduce you, or
reintroduce you, to one of the amazing men or women who’ve made the art of
burlesque what it has become today.
Where appropriate we’re going to share details of their performances,
burlesque performance skills and signature act with you, so you can share in
our delight in all things burlesque.
First up on stage in The Burlesque Boutique
spotlight is Mae West!
While Mae West said that “You only live once,
but if you do it right, once is enough” but her own life contains enough
material for several lifetimes. Best known today as a star of early Hollywood
and a woman with an astonishing wit, she was performing professionally at 14
years old, daughter to a middling level prize fighter and a corset model, she
made her first appearance on stage at just five years old. Known in vaudeville
as ‘Baby Mae’ she was noted for both cross-dressing and blacking up onstage.
While her burlesque costumes at the time were quite prim, she was noted for
bringing the Shimmy to the stage, it was a notoriously ‘dirty dance’ usually
reserved for what where then black only drinking dens. Age 17 she married her
then dance partner Frank Wallace, but only a few weeks later later she dumped
him when she moved to New York to start her Broadway career. Her play, ‘Sex’
performed on Broadway in 1927, earned her ten days in jail and a fine for
obscenity - she was released a day early for ‘good behaviour’.
More than just a pretty face - Mae West
dressed for success
Mae West was not just a pretty face and a fine
dancer - she also wrote nine of the 13 films in which she appeared, and had a
superb ability to spot and promote talent. Her burlesque outfits were created
by Elsa Schiaparelli, who was both a fashion designer of the highest calibre and also
Coco Chanel's fierce rival. As a result, Mae West’s couturier gowns were like
those of Madonna or Lady Gaga today … always talked about and often shocking.
She’s also said to have been the inspiration for the curvy shape of the classic
Coca Cola bottle. She was also renowned for her bottle blonde hair, and her
sexy swaying walk which apparently was a result of her having six inch platform
heels under her long gowns because she was only five feet tall! The shoes were
so high she had to walk slowly and carefully not to turn her ankle and the
result was a sultry promenade that drove men mad. So mad, in fact, that in
World War II, American sailors called their inflatable life vests their Mae
West because it reminded them of her generous bust.
Those seeking to emulate Mae West’s stunning
figure need to begin with a good corset. Our black brocade corset is a perfect
example of the lingerie that made Mae West famous. Steel boned with a
sweetheart neckline that gives the curvaceous cleavage for which she was so
well known, it’s the ideal foundation garment for an elegant but above all sexy
look which is typical of the woman they called both ‘The Queen of the World’
and ‘The Statue of Libido’.
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