Misplaced Pages

#770229

27-515: Formerly known as Exotic World , the museum began as the personal collection of striptease artist and founding member of The Exotic Dancers' League of America Jennie Lee . After her death in 1990, her friend and fellow entertainer, Dixie Evans , created the museum in Helendale, California , and launched the "Miss Exotic World" Competition in 1990. In 2006, The Burlesque Hall of Fame relocated from Helendale to Las Vegas, NV, to establish itself as

54-455: A press release claiming that "Lili St. Cyr, Tempest Storm, Blaze Starr and 30 other alumni of burlesque will all be invited to attend this reunion." While technically true, none of those invitees attended that year. However, the release garnered press attention for the pageant, which was successful enough to become an annual event. Each contest features burlesque performances by both stars from burlesque's golden age and younger women involved in

81-677: A black velvet shoulder cape worn by Gypsy Rose Lee , a heart-shaped couch owned by Jayne Mansfield and the cremation ashes of Miss Sheri Champagne. The history of the Burlesque Hall of Fame is the featured subject of the 2010 documentary Exotic World & the Burlesque Revival . Dixie Evans appears in Leslie Zemeckis' documentary Behind the Burly Q . Exotic World hosts the annual Miss Exotic World pageant on

108-535: A blend of silk and another fiber, often rayon or cotton . Velvet made entirely from silk is rare and usually has market prices of several hundred US dollars per yard. Cotton is also used to make velvet, though this often results in a less luxurious fabric. Velvet can also be made from fibers such as linen , mohair , and wool . A cloth made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from

135-401: A fairly costly fabric. Velvet is difficult to clean because of its pile, but modern dry cleaning methods make cleaning more feasible. Velvet pile is created by cutting the warp yarns, while velveteen pile is created by cutting the weft yarns. Velvet can be made from several different kinds of fibers, the most expensive of which is silk . Much of the velvet sold today as "silk velvet" is

162-852: A permanent tourist attraction and exhibition space for its collection. After nearly a decade in the Emergency Arts building in the heart of a revitalized Downtown Las Vegas , the museum moved to Las Vegas' Arts district in 2018. This Miss Exotic World competition is in its 29th year (as of 2019), and has grown to become The Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender, a four-day convention held annually in Las Vegas that includes class, vending, museum tours, pin-up safaris, and four nights of showcases: Movers, Shakers, and Innovators; The Titans of Tease Reunion (now in its 68th year); The Miss Exotic World Competition; and Icons and All-Stars. Retired dancer Jennie Lee started collecting burlesque memorabilia when she owned

189-943: A significant contribution to burlesque history. BHOF also presents a "Sassy Lassy" award to a person who has contributed significantly to the promotion and preservation of the art of burlesque. Living Legend of the Year recipients include: Sassy Lassy recipients include: The Exotic World museum collection includes costumes , props , posters , photographs , publicity stills, newspaper clippings, and playbills related to famous burlesque performers including Dita Von Teese , Blaze Starr , Lili St. Cyr , Chesty Morgan , Candy Barr and Tempest Storm . The museum includes costume elements and props such as feather boas , fans , gloves , garter belts , gowns , shoes , pasties , g-strings , and jewelry . Many of these items are specially made for use in striptease routines. Unique individual items include ivory fans used by Sally Rand , gloves and

216-506: A silken textile fabric having a short dense piled surface. In all probability the art of velvet-weaving originated in the Far East; and it is not till about the beginning of the 14th century that we find any mention of the textile. The peculiar properties of velvet, the splendid yet softened depth of dye-colour it exhibited, at once marked it out as a fit material for ecclesiastical vestments , royal and state robes, and sumptuous hangings; and

243-675: A temporary space in The Las Vegas Emergency Arts building. The Hall of Fame relocated to a permanent premises in S Main Street, Las Vegas in April 2018. The Burlesque Hall of Fame does not have a formal induction process. The museum is dedicated to celebrating and honoring the entire history of burlesque. A "Living Legend of the Year" award is presented annually during the BHOF Weekender to a performer who has made

270-582: A variety of magazines. As the years went by, the EDL became more of a social organization for retired dancers and collectible items associated in their acts. Lee gathered press pictures, gowns, pasties, and G-strings of burlesque dancers for the organization and displayed them at businesses she ran, including her nightclub/bar The Sassy Lassy. The collection would become part of the Exotic World museum (Burlesque Hall of Fame) in Helendale , California , which

297-450: Is woven on a special loom that weaves two thicknesses of the material at the same time; the two layers are connected with an extra warp yarn that is woven over rods or wires. The two pieces are then cut apart to create the fabric's pile, and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. This complicated process meant that velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available, and well-made velvet remains

SECTION 10

#1732802434771

324-733: The New Burlesque scene. Miss Exotic World, Reigning Queen of Burlesque 2019 First runner Up Second Runner up RedBone Lou Lou la Duchesse De Riere Best Boylesque: Joshua Dean Best Debut: Dahlia Fatale Most Classic: Holly's Good Most Comical: Faye Havoc & Donna Boss Rogers Most Innovative: Lou Lou la Duchesse De Riere Most Dazzling Dancer: Frankie Fictitious Best Small Group: Kitten ‘N’ Lou Best Large Group: Mod Carousel Jennie Lee (dancer) Jennie Lee (born Virginia Lee Hicks , October 23, 1928 – March 24, 1990)

351-630: The raffia palm is often referred to as "Kuba velvet" . Modern velvet can be polyester , nylon , viscose , acetate , or blends of synthetics and natural fibers (for example, viscose mixed with silk produces a very soft, reflective fabric). A small percentage of spandex is sometimes added to give the final material a certain amount of stretch (hence "stretch velvet"). Velvet has a thick pile and can be cut 'pile up' or 'pile down' for more shine or more saturated color. Because of its unusual softness and appearance as well as its high cost of production, velvet has often been associated with nobility. Velvet

378-640: The Sassy Lassy nightclub in San Pedro, California . After Lee was diagnosed with breast cancer , she and her husband moved to an abandoned goat farm in Helendale, California, located in the Mojave Desert about one third of the way between Los Angeles , California and Las Vegas , Nevada . Lee intended to create a burlesque museum, found a burlesque school and run a bed and breakfast , and

405-400: The art was taken up by Flemish weavers, and in the sixteenth century, Bruges attained a reputation for velvets that were not inferior to those of the great Italian cities. As mechanization was incorporated into the production of textiles in the 19th century, velvet became a more attainable fabric for the middle class. The development of "double velvet" in the 1830s allowed for two pieces of

432-626: The audience. By the early fifties she broke into acting with minor roles in Peek-A-Boo (1953), Abandon (1958), Cold Wind in August (1961), and 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (1964) with Mamie Van Doren . Despite her ambitions of mainstream stardom, she found herself typecast in side roles, and never got her acting career off the ground. In 1955, she helped start a union for dancers, The Exotic Dancers' League of North America (or EDL), acting as

459-489: The club's first president. During this time in Los Angeles , dancers' pay rates were very low and the EDL helped fight to improve them and push for improved working conditions. Lee's own salary was also very low, forcing her to live in run-down studio apartments . The dancer tried to keep this from her friends, claiming in a 1980s interview: "They would've thought I was a hooker for sure." During her career Lee appeared on

486-492: The cover of the magazines Stare in 1954; Risk in 1957; and Frolic in 1958, among others. She wrote an article on herself for a 1955 spread in Modern Man . Besides her life as a stripper, Lee was a pin-up girl throughout her career. Like most of her contemporaries, she didn't pose nude , though in later years she did. She also wrote a monthly column on the burlesque and nightclub scene for several years that appeared in

513-513: The entire farm. In late 2005, the museum was temporarily closed for inventory and renovations in the wake of Arroyo's unexpected death and significant weather damage to the museum facilities. Although the museum was not open at the time of the annual Miss Exotic World Pageant in 2006, the pageant was nevertheless held at an alternate venue, the Celebrity Theater in Las Vegas. In 2006, the Burlesque Hall of Fame relocated from Helendale to

540-623: The first Saturday of every June. Each year a Neo-burlesque performer is crowned Miss Exotic World in a contest often referred to as the Miss America of burlesque. Winners receive both the title and a trophy. Evolving from annual celebrations for the Exotic Dancers League union, Dixie Evans initiated the Miss Exotic World pageant in 1990 as a way to draw people to the museum. She garnered attention by sending out

567-444: The goat farm site had enough room to contain her growing collection. Only the museum got started within her lifetime. After Lee died in 1990, Dixie Evans took over the farm and turned it into The Exotic World Burlesque Museum , aided by Lee's widower, Charlie Arroyo. Lee's memorabilia formed the core of the collection, but people from around the world soon started to donate items to Exotic World. The collection grew large enough to fill

SECTION 20

#1732802434771

594-521: The most magnificent textures of medieval times were Italian velvets. These were in many ways most effectively treated for ornamentation, such as by varying the colour of the pile, by producing pile of different lengths (pile upon pile, or double pile), and by brocading with plain silk, with uncut pile or with a ground of gold tissue, &c. The earliest sources of European artistic velvets were Catanzaro , Lucca , Genoa , Florence , and Venice, which continued to send out rich velvet textures. Somewhat later

621-489: The ruler of Mali, wore a locally produced complete crimson velvet kaftan on Eid . During the reign of Mehmed II , assistant cooks wore blue dresses ( câme-i kebûd ), conical hats ( کلاه , külâh ) and baggy trousers ( چاقشیر , çakşır ) made from Bursa velvet. King Richard II of England directed in his will that his body should be clothed in velveto in 1399. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition described velvet and its history thus: VELVET,

648-877: Was an American stripper , burlesque entertainer , pin-up model , union activist, and a minor role movie actress , who performed several striptease acts in nightclubs during the 1950s and 1960s. She was also known as "the Bazoom Girl", "the Burlesque Version of Jayne Mansfield", and "Miss 44 and Plenty More". She was born with the name Virginia Lee Hicks on October 23, 1928 in Kansas City , Missouri . Due to her figure (42D"–26"–37), she became known as "The Bazoom Girl," "The Burlesque Version of Jayne Mansfield ," and eventually, "Miss 44 and Plenty More". Lee's act centered on how fast she could get her pastie propellers to spin and how dizzy she could make

675-505: Was founded in 1961 by Lee. By the late 1960s, an aging Lee lost interest in her own burlesque career but was still interested in supporting the next generation of Exotic Dancers and memorializing her generation of burlesque performers. Lee died in 1991 at the age of 61 from cancer. With her death, fellow burlesque dancer, Dixie Evans , took over the Exotic World museum and helped keep burlesque and Lee's legacy alive. In 1958, she

702-634: Was immortalized in the Jennie Lee song, recorded by Jan & Arnie. The song was credited to Jan & Arnie because Dean Torrence was in the army at the time of the recording so their friend Arnie Ginsburg recorded the song with Jan Berry . Velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk . Modern velvet can be made from silk , linen , cotton , wool , synthetic fibers , silk-cotton blends, or synthetic-natural fiber blends. Velvet

729-672: Was introduced to Baghdad during the rule of Harun al-Rashid (786–809) by Kashmiri merchants and to Al-Andalus by Ziryab . In the Mamluk era, Cairo was the world's largest producer of velvet. Much of it was exported to Venice (whence it spread to most of Europe), Iberia and the Mali Empire . Mansa Musa , the ruler of the Mali Empire, visited Cairo on his pilgrimage to Mecca . Many Arab velvet makers accompanied him back to Timbuktu . Later Ibn Battuta mentions how Suleyman ,

#770229