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In
celebration of the theatrical release of "Burlesque,"
Harper Collins publishing releases a hardcore massive
compendium of tributes and explorations in to the final
generation of burlesque and the art of the seduction
where revealing barely anything often is much more
arousing than revealing it all. In the process though,
it deems it loud and clear that a PG-13 film about
Burlesque makes about as much sense as a PG movie about
pornography. It's absurd since while the book is an
amazing look in to the final hurrah of Burlesque it's
also a pretty revealing look in to what made Burlesque
so attractive from female performers who were skilled
contortionists, to others who had some rather rotund and
gigantic breasts who excelled at teasing men with what
they didn't see under their sweaters and tassels. While
the book has been released in an effort to raise
awareness of the true art of Burlesque and capitalize on
the buzz of Christina's Aguilera's film, the book is
more a prologue to author Liz Goldwyn's upcoming
documentary entitled "Pretty Things" where she'll
explore the fine art of burlesque and the mastery of the
fashion and costumed. "Pretty Things" as a hardcore
compendium of artifacts and fashion is an elegant little
guidebook of massive girth that explores author Liz
Goldwyn's fascination and love for burlesque as well
as her encounters with the burlesque shows and the final
generation of the art form before it became antiquated. |
| Goldwyn, born from
Hollywood royalty in the vein of Samuel Goldwyn
explains her pining for mementos of these shows and
her experiences with Coco Chanel whose outfits were
tossed out by Samuel Goldwyn when her fashion was
deemed much too androgynous. As well she unfolds the
origins of Burlesque including its meanings and its
rooted origins that stem from Greece to Shakespeare
right down to Vaudeville where immigrants partook
in its form of dancing and arousal as a sense of
expression and communication. Thankfully "Pretty
Things" is an amalgamation of Ms. Goldwyn's
fascinations so while she does go in to great detail
in the origin of Burlesque she also grants us the
ability to view full color photos and restored
stills of some of the greatest Burlesque queens and
their gimmicks, which often included contortion and
or very large breasts. Tracing back to 411 B.C.
right down to the early 1950's, Goldwyn takes
advantage of her book by pretty much appealing to
all readers putting the vintage fashion on display,
while tastefully observing the taut sexuality of the
performers all of whom are ravishing and incredibly
sexy, but also possessed a degree of talent and she
mulls over the intricacies of the costumes and how
they were very instrumental to the shows. In the
same vein she also bears an astonishing appreciation
to the devil maycare and raw sexuality every dancer
garnered for their audience, holding their own
unique trait that kept them constant attractions.
"Pretty Things" is a very length tome with a large
history to it, and I couldn't put it down. |
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