Welcome to OhYouPrettyThing. We are designers and suppliers of all things burlesque and featuring retro lingerie and outfits. We are based in the heart of the New Forest, and welcome visitors by appointment to see our full range. The address is;
Oh You Pretty Thing,
8 Ossemsley Manor,
Christchurch,
Dorset BH23 7EE
Tel 07756804498
We also make bespoke outfits, and indeed do make showgirl costumes. Please feel free to phone and discuss individual requirements, for a free quotation.
HISTORY OF BURLESQUE
Most people think that "burlesque" means female strippers walking a runway to a bump and grind beat. But that only fits the form in its declining years. At its best, burlesque was a rich source of music and comedy that kept America, audiences laughing from 1840 through the 1960s.
In fact the word 'burlesque' means to jest.
In the 19th Century, the term "burlesque" was applied to a wide range of comic plays, including non-musicals. Beginning in the 1840s, these works entertained the lower and middle classes in Great Britain and the United States by making fun of (or "burlesquing") the operas, plays and social habits of the upper classes. These shows used comedy and music to challenge the established way of looking at things. Everything from Shakespearean drama to the craze for Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind could inspire a full-length burlesque spoof. On Broadway, the burlesque productions of actor managers William Mitchell, John Brougham and Laura Keene were among Broadway's most popular hits of the mid-19th Century.
By the 1860s, British burlesque relied on the display of shapely, underdressed women to keep audiences interested. In the Victorian age, when proper women went to great lengths to hide their physical form beneath bustles, hoops and frills, the idea of young ladies appearing onstage in tights was a powerful challenge.
Suggestive rather than bawdy, these shows relied less on strong scripts or songs than on sheer star power. When Broadway's 'The Black Crook' became a massive hit in 1866, its troop of ballerinas in flesh-colored tights served notice that respectable American audiences were ready to fork over big bucks for sexually stimulating entertainment. All it took was a daring producer to take things to the next level.
Burlesque came back into fashion in the 1920's. With the raring 20's underway and with ankles showing, for the cabaret acts of the day, they started to become even more daring.
1940's though is when the burlesque, we appreciate today, really comes into its own. With sequened see through costumes, burlesque suddenly became more of a sexy routine. With a slow strip, exotic dancing and very sexy outfits.
