Costuming, my BurlyQ Nemesis.
One of the things that initially drew me to burlesque is the larger-than-life costumes worn by artists such as Dita Von Tease and Jo “Boobs” Weldon. Costuming is also the only aspect of burlesque that terrifies me. As a young ballerina and jazz dancer I was lucky enough to have parents who could afford to buy my costumes. I remember the vibrant colors and textures of these beautiful garments, what I didn’t remember were the price tag. I am no longer oblivious to sticker shock (a real epidemic affecting burlesque kings and queens worldwide) and lucky for me I’ve had mentors such as Elyse Elaine *The Bay Area Betty Boop* and ChaCha Burnadette show me the light of DYI costuming!
Elyse Elaine and myself at The Sweet Spot Sacramento.
ChaCha Burnadette and myself at The Lucky Sinners Charity Event.
Don’t get me wrong, a DYI costume can become just as/more costly than a custom made design. With enough planning, however, anyone can create a show worthy garment that will make your audience and fellow performers swoon! I am by no means an expert, but there are a couple tips that I have picked up!
Pasties: Don’t spend your money buying readymade pasties! In my early days I would buy a pack of crappy, one-time-use, star “stickers” for $20 only to throw them away at the end of the show and have to buy more. Thank goodness I’ve learned my lesson!
Pasties can be easily made with a bit of foam board, hot glue, fabric, and some rhinestones. Jo Weldon’s book, The Burlesque Handbook , includes an informative and easy to follow guide for pastie construction. Or head over to youTube and check out GoGo Amy’s detailed tutorial.
There are no limits to the designs, embellishments, and shapes that can be applied to pasties! Practice makes perfect, you’re not going to create the most epic pasties your first try. I am confident that you will make beautiful nipple covers if you keep at it.
HUGE Pie pasties I attached to a bra for my Thanksgiving themed act. (pictured with Rebel Rose)
Lame star pasties, picture provided for clarification. (Pictured with Big Stan, Sacramento erotic poet)
Note: Elyse Elaine taught me to use carpet tape to keep my pasties in place, say no to exposed nips.
Corsets: Have you seen the price tags on these bad boys?!? Any online shopper could Google burlesque corsets and have limitless options. But not every online shopper has a bottomless bank account either. Try ebay.com and easily gain access to hundreds of options for under $30! Don’t fool yourself into thinking that what you see is what you get. Any corset can be covered with fabric in a pinch with a bit of hot glue, no sewing required! Just as I said with the pasties, there are no limits to how creative you can become in embellishing and experimenting with texture, shine, and color! Unfortunately, I could not find a video tutorial for you guys with a corset as an example, but here is one by LikeWowLaLa using a bra to create a bustier.
ChaCha Burnadette's fabric covered waist cincher.
These are only two tips, and I’ll add more later. Remember, the more you put on, the more you have to take off.
