Glamour Advocate Design ‘Sweet Heather’
This Tudor style corset is the result of 26 (wo)man hours of raw labour and chipped nails. Featuring 26 bones, satin ribbon detailing and made out of pale pink silk dupioni.
xoxox
Miss Glamourpuss
The biggest problem in the daily life of a vintage goddess is finding new outfits. I’m not a big fan of current fashion trends and constantly run into issues while I’m trying to find new additions to my wardrobe.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way of resolving this issue is to buy a sewing machine.
I spent a wonderful day catching up with my dear grandma and she introduced me to her vintage sewing magazine collection. In every magazine she could point out several glamourous dresses and tell me what kind of fabric she used and what occasion the dress was made for.
Luckily she taught me how to use a sewing machine when I was about 3 years old and I’ve been fluent with one ever since.
She gave me all the 50′s and early 60′s magazines she had, and now I have patterns aplenty for my new glorious wardrobe.
I will be posting photos of the finished products as soon as I can find fabrics worthy of these fabulous designs…
Wheels & Dollbaby‘s new Notorious designs must be the most divine clothing I’ve seen for ages!
xoxox
Miss Glamourpuss
*** Update ***
In fact, I went back a week later and bought myself the Bunny Girl Dress. I simply could not resist its glory.
Wheels & Dollbaby: Notorious! Bunny Girl Dress
These wonderful pinup shots of up-and-coming actresses are a great source of inspiration. Vanity Fair: Vanities Girls
xoxox
Miss Glamourpuss
Choosing your stage name is tricky. I agreed to model for a friend’s event and was faced with the decision on naming my fabulous on stage persona.
A good stage name is catchy, yet not obvious or too cliched. Too nice is just boring and anything too raunchy will only make you sound like a drag queen!
First thing I did was to head over to Striptease Symposium to consult this article by Penny Starr Jr.
She bans the use of the most common words like: Kitten, Kitty, Vixen, Honey, Von, Lux or Deluxe, Lola, de Ville, Violette, Pinky, Femme or Belle based on the simple fact that they have already been used by every other showgirl all over the world. I was already doomed by this point as I wanted to keep ‘Glamourpuss‘ as the latter part of my stage name.
I tried the porn name method she advocates (the name of your first pet and the first street you lived on), but I quickly discarded ‘Bella Shaft‘. Not quite what I was after.
She suggests that the use of legendary car models might be a good starting point. And I have to admit that Continental, Coupe, SuperSport, Zephyr, Valiant, Corvair, Mustang, Nova, Futura, Mercury, Rocket 88, Metropolitan, Citrone, and Fiat are actually quite interesting. Maybe just a tad masculine for my liking?
However, my favourite part of her advice was naming yourself after alcohol! How delightfully decadent! How about Martini, Campari, Negroni, Gin Fizz, Dubonet, etc. I was quite attached to ‘Martini Delight’, but gave it up as I still was hoping I might come up with a name that works with ‘Glamourpuss’.
There is plenty more advice in the article, so if you find yourself stuck like I was, go ahead and read some more.
In the end I relied to the good old Thesaurus method and the aid of a good friend. We looked up words that I related to and after a long night, my friend found ‘gally‘. Not only does it sound like a combination of ‘gal’ and ‘girly’, I loved the meaning of the word:
Definition: ridiculing
Synonyms: cheeky, cocky, contemptuous, crusty, disdainful, flip, fresh, gally, insulting, jeering, mocking, nervy, out-of-line, rude, sarcastic, sassy, scoffing, scornful, smart, smart-alecky, taunting
Anonyms: complimentary, flattering, praising, respectful
Also, I like the way the word doesn’t seem to officially exist at all, and another Thesaurus entry contradicted the previous definition entirely.
So there it is:
I’m done. How’s yours coming along?
xoxox
Miss Glamourpuss
P.S. If you’re really stuck and running out of time, here’s a Burlesque Name Generator that can spit out off the shelf stage names.
Photography & styling by Pixie from Boogie Bop Dames.
1. Know who you are and what you have got
Being glamorous begins from you. Study yourself from the mirror and see what sets you apart from others and play on that. That’s a good starting point. Know who you are and what are your best assets.
Got a fantastic pout? Great, never leave the house without red lipstick! Hourglass figure? Make sure all your outfits accentuate your waist! Pins to die for? Make them even longer with a stunning pair of stiletto pumps! Voluptuous bosom? Flaunt it darling!
Playing on your best assets draws attention away from little things you might not be so comfortable with.
2. Choose a style icon / era
Choosing a style icon gives you a good reference point. It helps, if you have something in common with them whether its body shape/size, hair colour or facial features.
Study the style you like. Identify the era/decade that you are most drawn to, in order to draw inspiration from a wider field. Know everything about your style icon in order to be able to learn from her style and fill in the gaps that you might not be able to reference from her pictures only.
Not sure where to start looking for a style icon? Here’s a list of goddesses from “Burlesque and the Art of the Teese‘ book:
’50s Bombshells
Lili St. Cyr
Tempest Storm
Dixie Evans
Blaze Starr
Marilyn Monroe
Brigitte Bardot
Elizabeth Taylor
Jayne Mansfield
Mamie Van Doren
’40s Cheesecake Pinup Dolls
Ann Corio
Gypsy Rose Lee
Sherry Britton
Betty Grable
Rita Hayworth
Gene Tierney
Lana Turner
Vivien Leigh
’30s Silver Screen Sirens
Gypsy Rose Lee
Sally Rand
Georgia Sothern
Marlene Dietrich
Jean Harlow
Mae West
Hedy Lamarr
Greta Garbo
Ginger Rogers
’20s Vamps
Mistinguett
Josephine Baker
Mae Dix
Theda Bara
Louise Brooks
Clara Bow
3. Practise, practise, practise!
In the end it all comes to doing it right. Whether it’s red lipstick, 50s eyeliner flicks, false lashes, curlers, hairdos or walking on skyhigh stiletto heels, it all takes practise to master the skill!
xoxox
Miss Glamourpuss
The Vanities Girls
Since 1992, the magazine’s Vanities section has opened with a full-page portrait of a promising young star. In September 2006, we tweaked the format: the Vanities opener now features an up-and-coming actress in a 50s-style pinup shot. These shapely ingénues are on the cusp of fame or have just hit it big; they have names you need to know and faces you won’t have trouble remembering. Here’s a look at all the bombshells who’ve struck a playful pose in the new retro style.