A brief history of Burlesque and Burlesque Hosiery
Burlesque is a brand of theatre entertainment from the early twentieth century that has seen a come back in recent times. It traditionally consisted of humor, performance art and adult entertainment typically performed by ladies. Women would wear lavish outfits made up of corsets, stockings and nipple tassels and acts would consist of strip teases, stand up comedy and more extreme acts such as fire breathing.
The term burlesque means in an upside down style and what an appropriate name as lots of the performances were meant to turn peoples heads. The artists were given the freedom to push social boundaries and develop different styles so the term is quite fitting.
Burlesque came from 19th century music hall shows. Initially it was originally used to make fun of the well off and provide social commentary. A lot of this humor was considered lowbrow and vulgar to many which eventually led to the inclusion of strip teases and circus acts such as contortionists.
Lots of now infamous comedians and actors were inspired or planted their roots in the scene. Everyone including Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope and Abbot and Costello have their roots in burlesque and even Charlie Chaplin was a fan.
Fast forward to the nineteen nineties and burlesque and burlesque clothing like corsets, hosiery and stockings and suspenders had become popular once more. Neo burlesque performances began emerging on the east and west coasts of the USA with acts like Dita Von Teese becoming notorious for their take on their genre. A lot of performers focused on the burlesque hosiery, wearing either a corset or waist cincher along with seamed stockings and suspenders. Recently performers like the Pussy Cat Dolls wore similar clothing and performed songs in a provocative manner but didn?t have the same sort of attitude of the genre.
