History of Boudoir Photography in Honor of our Outdoor Boudoir Marathon on July 23rd!

Hello Dolls!

In honor of our upcoming outdoor boudoir marathon on July 23rd we thought we'd give a little history on boudoir photography....

Over the last few years, boudoir photography has really caught its stride, quickly becoming one of the more respected and pursued genres of photography. But the popularity of boudoir didn’t pop up over night. In fact, it has a long history of classic tradition and unique style.

Fast-forward to the 1940s, and suddenly the boudoir focus was on pin-up girls. These decadent women were delightfully curvy, as popular standards deemed a lack of shape typically undesirable. It was a culture quite different from our more modern, and ridiculous, ideas of beauty. These pin-up girls wore stockings, corsets, men’s ties and hats and were among the first to use various props in their unique “portraits.”It was in the 1920s when boudoir art and photography really began to come into its own. During this decade, it was generally illegal to have nudity in photographs, but regardless, photographers like Albert Arthur Allen, a French artist, continued to create masterpieces. He focused mostly on women, especially larger women, who posed in romantic ways against ornate backdrops.

The next large change in the evolution of boudoir took place in the 1970s, about the time when photography began to carve a place for itself in the professional “art world.” Many magazines began to feature photographs of real women as opposed to mere drawings, and as the vision of the female form became more prolific, boudoir photography became significantly more acceptable.

Boudoir art and photography is often misunderstood, and this could be considered a result of the total change in style during the 1970s. Women without their bras or even without any panties began appearing in photographs and artwork, and despite it being for artistic purposes only, many people simply could not shake off the idea that this was just glorified pornography. Sometimes cultural taboos are hard to break.

Over the last three decades, this opinion has gradually changed, and Boudoir photography is not only completely accepted, but highly encouraged and celebrated in many circles. People not only enjoy this kind of photography as art work for their homes and other properties, but women often look for photographers who can help them recreate classic boudoir photographs, or just come up with something new that features them as the stars of their own show.

Boudoir photography has ultimately, in recent years, established itself as an successful add-on for wedding photographers. This sexy new trend has become a popular gift from the bride to the groom, and so, the pictures are taken before the date of the wedding by a professional, and then edited and bound in a book to be given to the groom. But it’s not just weddings! The fashion world has picked up on the trend. Vintage clothes and even vintage-style lingerie are prominently featured on the catwalks.

Boudoir style doesn’t look like it’s going to go away any time soon, and that could be a fantastic thing! In a world that often shows only the thinnest and “most perfect” (cue eye roll) on TV, in movies and in magazines, boudoir photography stands out for its celebration of real women’s bodies. It represents real women at their most vulnerable and their most confident, which is incredibly empowering.

Women all over the world can start believing in themselves, as well as feeling great by wearing their favorite lingerie and having their photographs taken. This is really a great way to boost self-esteem, have a bit of fun and treat your other half. The whole purpose of boudoir art and photography is that women should love their bodies, and that feeling sexy shouldn’t just be about pleasing somebody else — it should be about pleasing yourself, and realizing just how valuable you are. For these reasons, I would argue that boudoir photography is not only relevant in modern society, but it’s absolutely essential! It’s a very real outlet where women can learn to feel great about themselves and become proud of their beautiful bodies. Boudoir gives women of all shapes and sizes the chance to strut their stuff.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marisa-leigh/where-did-boudoir-photography-come-from_b_4654991.html

An Early History of the Bathing Suit 1900 - 1950

Hello Paper Dolls!

Summer is finally upon us! Here is an early history of the bathing suit:

1900:

By the end of the 19th century people were flocking to the oceanside beaches for popular seaside activities such as swimming, surf bathing, and diving. The clumsy Victorian-style bathing costumes were becoming burdensome. A need for a new style bathing suits that retained modesty but was free enough to allow the young lady to engage in swimming was obvious.


1910:

By 1910 bathing suits no longer camouflaged the contours of the female body. The yards of fabric used in Victorian bathing skirts and bloomers were reduced to show a little more of the figure and to allow for exposure to the sun.


1915:

Up until the first decades of the 20th century, the only activity for women in the ocean involved jumping through the waves while holding on to a rope attached to an off-shore bouy. By 1915, women athletes started to share the actual sport of swimming with men and thus began to reduce the amount of heavy fabric used in their billowing swimsuits.


1920s-30s:

By the early 1920s women’s bathing suits were reduced to a one piece garment with a long top that covered shorts. Though matching stockings were still worn, vintage swimwear began to shrink and more and more flesh was exposed from the bottom of the trunks to the tops of the stockings. By the mid-1920s Vogue magazine was telling its readers that “the newest thing for the sea is a jersey bathing suit as near a maillot as the unwritten law will permit.”


1940s: 

With elements like sweetheart necklines and ruching, bathing suits began to echo the era's dress styles — and become more flattering.


1946:


The first official bikini was introduced at a poolside fashion event in Paris. Rumor has it that inventor Louis Réard couldn't find a fashion model to wear it, so he hired a stripper, Micheline Bernardini. The skimpy suit was originally banned in Italy and Spain for indecency.



1950s: 

French actress Brigitte Bardot played a huge role in popularizing the bikini when she wore one to the 1953 Cannes Festival, and in some of her movies.

Stay tuned for part two of our history of the bathing suit that will cover the 1950's until today! Come to the shop to check out the retro style bathing suits and bikini's we carry so you can get sun in style this summer!

Sources:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/fashion/tips/g202/evolution-bathing-suit/?slide=10

http://www.victoriana.com/library/Beach/FashionableBathingSuits.htm

Celebrating Sideshow Sketch with a history of Burlesque and Sideshow!

Hello Paper Dolls!

In celebration of the amazing Sideshow Sketch event we are blogging about the history of burlesque and sideshow. Sideshow Sketch will return to Brickhouse Brewery on March 4th and April 15th. Keep checking our Facebook page for updates! The drawings made during these events will be in our May art show so please be sure to make it out for that the first Friday of May!

Burlesque

American burlesque is a genre of variety show. Derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall and minstrel shows, burlesque shows in America became popular in the 1860's and evolved to feature ribald comedy

(lewd jokes) and female striptease. By the early 20th century, burlesque in America was presented as a populist blend of satire, performance art, music hall and adult entertainment, featuring striptease and broad comedy acts.

Today, Neo-Burlesque has taken many forms, but all have the common trait of honoring one or more of burlesque's previous incarnations, with acts including striptease, expensive costumes, bawdy humor, cabaret, and comedy/variety acts.There are modern burlesque performers and shows all over the world, and annual conventions such as the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, the New York Burlesque Festival created by burlesque star Angie Pontani and Jen Gapay, and the Miss Exotic World Pageant are held. In 2008, The New York Times noted that burlesque had made a comeback in the city's art performance scene.

1868—Lydia Thompson and her British Blondes come to the United States. The group’s sexy variety show is believed to be the first American stage performance in which both featured performers as well as chorus girls appear in “nude” tights. The combination of underdressed females and satirical comedy makes for a hit. Thompson's first New York season grosses more than $370,000.

1898—Gold is discovered in the Yukon and Alaska. Burlesque dancers make their way to Dawson to work in the saloons. Performers like Diamond Lil, Nellie the Pig, Diamond-Tooth Gertie and Big Annie become legendary saloon girls.

1907—Florenz Ziegfeld, who just happened to be managing a strongman at the 1893 World's Fair, opens

Ziegfeld’s Follies in New York. The revue’s bevy of elaborately yet scantily clad showgirls ensures that the show runs until 1931.

1925—Under New York law, it is permissible for girls in shows staged by Ziegfeld, the Minsky brothers, George White and Earl Carroll to appear topless as long as they remain immobile. In a Minsky show at the National Winter Garden, Madamoiselle Fifi (née Mary Dawson from Pennsylvania) strips to the waist and then moves. The subsequent police raid inspires the book and film The Night They Raided Minsky’s.

1932—Thanks to the rise in “talkie” films, the historic Palace Theater in New York converts to a full-time movie house in November, marking for many the official death of the vaudeville circuit. Its raunchier cousin burlesque lives on—thanks in no small part to its endless parade of risqué striptease dancers.

1935—Fourteen major Broadway theaters are now burlesque houses.

1941—America's entry into World War II sparks another growth in burlesque popularity. Lonely soldiers energize the pinup industry and popularize overseas burlesque houses like London’s storied Windmill Theatre.

1955—Jennie Lee (“The Bazoom Girl”) and eight other dancers form the League of Exotic Dancers in Los

Angeles. According to a Los Angeles Times article, the girls “mildly threatened” to strike over the low minimum pay that striptease dancers received in the L.A. area. The dancers claimed L.A. was the chintziest of all the large cities at $85 a week; whereas other large cities paid a minimum of $125 a week. The nine dancers present at the initial meeting include: Jennie Lee, “Novita,” Betty Rowland, Rusty Lane, Virginia Valentine, Daurene Dare, Denise Dunbar, Peggy Stuart and “Champagne.”

1972—Fueled by the growth in all-nude strip clubs and the sudden mainstream popularity of X-rated films (Deep Throat, Behind the Green Door), burlesque goes into a prolonged hybernation.

1995—Ami Goodheart's “Dutch Weismann’s Follies” in New York and Michelle Carr’s Velvet Hammer Burlesque troupe in Los Angeles spur a revival called “Neo-Burlesque”—combining classic “pasties and a G-string” burly-q,

swing music, rockabilly, punk rock, tattoos, grrl power, lingerie, fetishism and a healthy dose of humor.

Alongside hundreds of other events and shows, this all brings us up to this year. Midnite Martini was crowned Miss Exotic World 2014. Dita Von Teese has also announced her semi-retirement. Now, the next generation are taking to the stage and teasing patrons, particularly across the US.

The Sideshow
1837: Waring, Raymond and Co. becomes the first circus to also advertise as a menagerie and museum of freaks.

1841: P. T. Barnum becomes the proprietor of the American Museum in New York City, at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street. He purchases and exhibits his first attraction: Joice Heth, the suposidly 161-year-old nurse of George Washington. The museum brings the “freak show” to prominence in the American popular amusement industry.

1880: Coney Island starts its own freak show. As of 2013, the act is still ongoing.

1903: Letter of complaint published by the New York World signed by representatives of the Barnum and Bailey Sideshow, addressed to James A. Bailey. It protested the use of the word “Freak” used in the advertisements of the slideshow hall.

1908: “Circus and Museum Freaks, Curiosities of Pathology,” the first scientific publication to condemn freak shows, appears in the journal,Scientific American.

1931 (September 18): Michigan bans the exhibition of “deformed human beings” in the act: 750.347 Deformed human beings; exhibition. Michigan is only one of a small handful of states that have outright banned freak shows, most states in the US still permit them.

1932: Tod Browning’s film Freaks was released. Using real-life “freaks” as many of its principle actors, this film was notable for presenting them in a sympathetic light. Though it failed at the box office and received many vehemently negative reviews, its revival in 1962 has since turned it into a cult classic.

Freak shows were popular attractions during the mid 19th to mid 20th centuries until changes in societal attitudes towards handicapped persons and tightening of local laws prohibiting “exhibition of deformed human beings” led to the decline of the freak show as a form of entertainment. Featuring attractions such as deformed humans and animals, unusual physical performers, “pickled punks” (abnormal fetuses preserved in glass jars), and occasional hoaxes (e.g. “bouncers” – fake pickled punks made from rubber), the freak show has captivated audiences since as early as the 16th century.