Pretty Things: The Last Golden Generation of American Burlesque Queens (Hardback)

This is a visual and narrative tour through the last, greatest generation of American burlesque queens. Liz Goldwyn's lifelong fascination with the inimitable glamour of classic burlesque inspired her to spend the past eight years corresponding with, visiting, interviewing, receiving striptease lessons from, and forming close relationships with the last generation of the great American burlesque queens. The author invites us to step back into an era when the hourglass figure was in vogue and striptease was a true art form. Goldwyn draws back the curtain to reveal the personal journeys of yesteryear's icons of female sexuality and power, restoring their legacy to an age that has all but forgotten them, despite today's resurgence of burlesque. Drawing from hundreds of archival photographs, costume sketches, newspaper clippings, and mementoes that Golwyn has collected along the way, "Pretty Things" is at once a feast for the eyes, a history of the art of burlesque, and a lovingly documented tale of fleeting stardom and self-discovery.