Research Related To My Theme - Design

Gothic Burlesque

Burlesque

• The word first appeared in the early 16th century, in the title of Francesco Berni's 'Opere Burlesche'.
• The word burlesque has been used in the English language since the 17th century.
• Burlesque began as a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner of serious works.
• In the 1860-1940's the word burlesque referred to a performance in variety show format. Burlesque was a popular show during this time, shown in cabarets, clubs and theatres and featuring bawdy comedy and female striptease.
• In recent years burlesque has resurfaced and this is shown in the annual conventions such as Vancouver International Burlesque Festival and Miss Exotic World Pageant.

American Burlesque

American burlesque started off in the early 1840's as a show containing magicians, acrobats, singers and the odd exotic dancer. At the end of the 19th century the American style burlesque flourished with the increasing focus on female nudity. The transition from burlesque on the old lines to the striptease it is now was gradual however the strippers eventually replaced the singing and dancing. In New York, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia clamped down on burlesque effectively putting it out of business in the in the early 1940's. However, burlesque shows continued on a lower scale and have resurfaced in the recent years.

Gothic

• The word gothic is usually associated with the words dark, mysterious and exotic.
• Gothic clothing is dark, sometimes morbid fashion and style of dress with complex features.
• Typical gothic fashion usually includes black hair, lips and clothes, dark eyeliner and dark nails.
• Gothic styles originate from punks, Victorians and Elizabethans.
• The goth subculture began in the early 1980's as an offshoot of the earlier punk genre.

Ted Polhemus, a writer and photographer, described goth fashion as 'a profusion of black velvets, lace, fishnets, leather tinged with scarlet or purple, accessorized with tightly laced corsets, gloves, precarious stilettos and silver jewellery depicting religious or occult themes'.