Miss Mina Murray

Dear Constant Reader,

A hair flower is not only a glamourous accessory; it can be used to hide imperfections in your hairdo.

Dear Constant Reader,

Here’s another book review, just for you.

A Pictorial History of Burlesque by Bernard Sobel (1956).

Mr. Sobel is a big burlesque fan. In this, his second book on burlesque (the first being Burleycue: An Underground History…

Dear Constant Reader,

Once upon a time, in another forum, I used to share pearls of wisdom and now I’d like to begin that again, with you.

Use the power of the pause. You don’t have to be in constant…

Dear Constant Reader,

Despite the title, this is really more from my sewing room. Continuing in my theme of little-garments-that-don’t-really-cover-my-legs, here’s a pair of 1940′s style shorts I made.

Again, I apologize for the quality of the picture. The shorts…

Dear Constant Reader,

On Saturday we presented a bonus production of Madame Burlesque, our sumer touring show. If you’ve been following along you know that our final show was supposed to have been August 6th in Portsmouth, NH. However…

Dear Constant Reader,

We’re only just getting to know one another, so you may not be aware that I like to sew. And I have a fondness for historic clothing. You may get to see photographs of some of it…

Dear Constant Reader,

I am the headmistress of a modest establishment called the Boston Academy of Burlesque Education (B.A.B.E.). We teach burlesque and burlesque-related arts, as you might expect. Enrollment has been climbing steadily, so that I actually entertained the…

Dear Constant Reader,

I reviewed another book, just for you! This time it’s Burlesque Exotic Dancers of the 50s & 60s by Judson Rosebush (2010).

Like The Bare Truth: Stars of Burlesque From the ’40s and ’50s and The Queens…

Dear Constant Reader,

All the cast and crew of Madame Burlesque were feeling just a little bit down that this fabulous run ended on Saturday in Portsmouth, NH. It had been 5 weeks, 4 states, and a lot of fun…

Dear Constant Reader,

This week the Boston Babydolls’ perambulations took us to Brattleboro, Vermont and the Hooker-Dunham Theatre. It’s a quirky little space, but we took it in stride. Once we figured out how to keep me from falling off…

Dear Constant Reader,

The Boston Babydolls are on tour! Madame Burlesque is such a great show, we just had to share it. We just finished a fantastic weekend in Portland, Maine at the Lucid Stage.

For those of you not…

Dear Constant Reader,

In preparing for Madame Burlesque, I read as many burlesque memoirs and biographies as I could get my hands on (and I must say, the library at Stately Babydolls Manor is rather extensive). One of them…