showgirl

Ziegfeld Girl in a Peacock Plume Dress

Ziegfeld Girl in a Peacock Plume Dress

Kathleen Rose, aka “Rose Dolores”, a Ziegfeld Girl in peacock plume dress. c.1917-1923 Isn’t this the most wonderful costume? I’d love to know what kind of show it was a part of, whether she just moved slowly around the stage and posed in the costume or whether it was part of some kind of routine. I’m(…)

“May I make you a star?”

“May I make you a star?”

Actress, singer, and dancer Ruby Keeler was born Ethel Hilda Keeler in Canada, 1910. She became a Ziegfeld Follies girl after receiving a  note from Flo Ziegfeld, who sent her bunch of roses and a  charming note asking “May I make you a star?”.

Naked 1950s girls (and a boy) in gold body paint

Naked 1950s girls (and a boy) in gold body paint

Well that’s got your eyes open on this early Tuesday morning (or Monday night depending on where you are in the world)! These golden Parisienne dancers were photographed in 1955. I’m hoping that the gold body paint wasn’t lead-based! And in case you were wondering guys looked equally good in gold body paint too (see(…)

Josephine Baker in her famous banana skirt

Josephine Baker in her famous banana skirt

The fabulous and controversial 1920s cabaret dancer Josephine Baker in her famous Banana Skirt from the Folies Bergère production “Un Vent de Folie” 1927

1950s chorus girls

1950s chorus girls

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Mata Hari: from erotic dance to espionage

Mata Hari: from erotic dance to espionage

Paris, February 1917. Europe is at war, with England, France and Russia fighting against Germany, Austro-Hungary and Turkey. At the Hotel Elysee Palace on the Champs Elysee, authorities have arrested a 40-year-old woman and charged her with espionage. This woman is famous, a celebrity, known across the continent for her exotic burlesque performances, and her(…)

1940s Bluebell girls

1940s Bluebell girls

Margaret Kelly Leibovici with her Bluebell Girls in 1948 Source and copyright “I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.“