A Bevy of Burlesque Beauties

Rose Hamilton in a fetching striped corsetThe other day, while doing some research online, I came across this bevy of burlesque beauties from 1890. These risqué Victorian pictures of ‘loose women in tights’ come from the Charles H. McCaghey Collection.

The pictures were mass-produced on tobacco and cabinet cards for the delectation of Victorian men everywhere starved for images that showed the female form. It was not the quantity of naked flesh that was titillating – there barely was any on show – but rather that shapely and curvaceous limbs were revealed encased only in tights, tightly-laced corsets and outlandish costumes.

Miss Murdock plays Cupid – undeniably the slimmest of this lot, and arguably the prettiestBurlesque took off in the US after Lydia Thompson brought her troupe, the British Blondes to New York City in 1868. Proper ladies dismissed them as common as street prostitutes, but men adored them. But by the 1920s, burlesque was out of fashion when moving pictures, vaudevillian theatre and Broadway revues took off.

Perceptions of beauty have certainly changed over the centuries – Dita von Teese and her ilk are as different from these voluptuous ladies as chalk from cheese. The costumes are still enormous fun however – I can’t decide which is my favourite however – a knight in shining armour, a horse, or a striped sailor outfit?

Scroll through this little selection below, or click through and visit the Ohio State University Library for more. 

I love how cross and defiant Viola Clifton looks!Eliza Blasina in horse costumeMademoiselle Conalba sports a fetching take on a policeman’s uniformElla Chapman is a knight in shining armourRoman gladiator Emma Burgess means businessJennie Lee is draped in tissue lamé and pearlsAn unidentified woman (possibly Camille) is wearing an adorable striped sailor-inspired outfit