Tweak on nipple tassels
OOPS, watch out, the Diary can hardly move for twirling nipple tassels - it must be coming up to Valentine's Day again.
Time was when a girl would be happy with a meal out, box of chocolates or a slushy video but now she wants to strut her stuff, simper behind a feather boa and get her kit off to slinky music.
So if you don't want to see any tassel twirling or fan dancing then you definitely won't be walking past Pandora's Box, the lingerie shop on Ecclesall Road, on Friday, February 13 or on the big day itself.
"Nipple tassels are our number one best-seller," says boss Germaine Smith, who has hired burlesque artiste Sahara Starr to do routines in her window featuring the shop's undies on those two days.
"Burlesque has gone massive in Sheffield and, yes, I like a bit of tassel twirling myself."
So does Lara Jolley. She and her mum Nina run Velvet Burlesque, "tease not sleaze" classes for women across Sheffield.
"We've got lawyers, doctors, housewives, they've got really good jobs." says Nina.
Lara, aged 35, who performs under the name of Hell's Belle, explains to a puzzled Diary why there has been such an explosion in burlesque.
"A lot of it is about body image. These women have been told they are too fat and some have been told they are too ugly - their bum's too big or their thighs are too fat - to do anything like this," she says.
"It's proving something to themselves. For years they have watched other people do it and now they can do it themselves."
Nina and Lara say they can take their students (they have around 100) up to performance level and to prove it they are putting on a show at the Embassy, Intake, on Valentine's Day.
"The Embassy has an Art Deco feel about it, very retro, it will look like a 1920s club," says Nina.
The show will mix professional acts with the girls the Jolleys are convinced won't let the side down.
"Those who are not good enough or are too shy will dress up as hostesses - oh that sounds dubious, doesn't? It - to make sure people have a good time," says Nina.
Acts already lined up include Tallulah T'asselle, Ms Perversity Lurks, the Vaudeville Vixens and the Boomshanka Tribal Belly Dance so there will be plenty of tassel twirling for those who like that sort of thing.
"It's all heavily choreographed. You get some places where they run on stage, jump up and down a bit, take off their clothes and run off," says Lara.
Velvet Burlesque also offers striptease lessons and the Diary, being a bloke, isn't too sure where one ends and the other begins.
"Part of burlesque includes striptease but it doesn't have to be. There are so many varieties of burlesque act," adds Lara.
"It's more about what the audience doesn't see rather than what it does see."
Tickets cost 10 and 15. details on www.velvetburlesque.co.uk
nValentine's lingerie P22-3
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Friday 25 May 2012
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