Burlesque women depict a time and place in America whose place in history was never quite defined until author and documentary filmmaker Liz Goldwyn allowed her life's passion for vintage clothing and design to become a homage to burlesque through film and, now, a book.
On Thursday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m., Goldwyn will read from her historic tome, "The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens: Pretty Things" at Chapter One Bookstore in Ketchum. The book is a follow-up to her HBO documentary film "Pretty Things," which premiered in July 2005.
Goldwyn has assembled a very stylish pictorial coffee table book describing the world that defined the last of the burlesque queens. These curvy, charismatic women were not only pioneers in their special hallmark of entertainment, they were artists.
"The women worked with costume designers, choreographers, set designers, and the relationship was a collaborative effort," said Goldwyn. "Vintage burlesque had a really long life, and I try to focus on the best and the people who made it."
Goldwyn presents the story of the last burlesque queens through an arrangement of archival photos, clippings, sketches and scrapbook items complimented by photographed fabrics and artifacts that create a texture and feel for the artistry put forth by these women.
A 10-year project in the making, Goldwyn had originally set out to write a book about burlesque costumes while she was working on her degree in photography. She has always been a collector of vintage clothing, but it was in the 26th Street flea market in Manhattan where a discovery of a burlesque costume turned her pastime into a fascination, ultimately beginning a journey that has shaped her life today.
"I thought there would be a lot of material out there, but there was nothing ever written, and no one had a collection," said Goldwyn. Goldwyn's book includes women such as Zorita, "The Lady and Her Snakes," and Lois de Fee, "The Amazon of Burlesque," who lived by their own set of rules but had an incredible imagination and creativity.
"In any performance they create a persona especially exposing themselves and making themselves so vulnerable," said Goldwyn. "My photographs are very much a reproduction, I don't match the confidence and the incredible courage these queens' sexuality seem to radiate."
Through her own experiences, creating a fashion department for Sothebys, working for Shiseido America, working as French Vogue's New York editor and launching a one-of-a-kind jewelry line, Goldwyn's know-how and education has allowed her to create a seminal body of work to encapsulate burlesque.
"Many people think a lot of doors open to me, but it's harder for me. The movie has non-profit status and was funded entirely by grants," said Goldwyn who is the granddaughter of movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn of MGM studios. "Maybe it is in my blood and in my genes, and sometimes you can't help fighting your genes."
Goldwyn could very well have the most comprehensive collection of burlesque costumes, clothing, jewelry and accessories. The collection is something she would like to put together for exhibition; however, she does not want to be identified by fashion. She is a self-proclaimed lover of clothing—a very big difference.
"I hate the word fashion. I don't believe in fashion," she said. "I don't believe you have to be defined by the hand bag on your arm."
For more information, about Goldwyn's appearance at Chapter One Bookstore, call 726-5425.
?The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens: Pretty Things? by Liz Goldwyn. Reagan Harper Collins Publishers. $44.95. 285 pp.
