Pretty Things: The Last Generation of American Burlesque Queens

A search for second-hand garments-""pretty things""-first prompted filmmaker Liz Goldwyn's lifelong fascination with the burlesque queens of the 1930s, '40s and '50s. After amassing a museum-worthy collection of their wardrobes and dancing paraphernalia, the enthusiastic young woman grew ""convinced that every garment holds undiscovered revelations about its past lives."" To learn more, she began contacting long-retired dancers and ""through ten years of letters, visits, interviews and striptease lessons"" documented their colorful-and sometimes tragic-stories. Tracing the evolution of this form of dancing from the Belle epoque to burlesque's mid-century heyday (which boasted such luminaries as Gypsy Rose Lee, Lily St. Cyr and Zorita), Goldwyn makes a convincing case for recognizing both the choreography and costume-making of this bygone era as a true art form. Fully illustrated with design notes, media clippings and hundreds of photos, this coffee table treasure serves as a companion book to the documentary film of the same name, which Goldwyn premiered on HBO in 2005. Ultimately, Goldwyn's contagious enthusiasm for her subject makes a fitting paean to this once-forgotten generation of women who led lives on the periphery of artistry and respectability.