I’ve been wanting to perform to spoken word for as long as I’ve been an entertainer. I’ve been hesitant, because I can’t shake the nagging feeling that anything I write myself isn’t ready to be read or heard by other humans. Like the majority of the population, the sound of my own voice gives me strange feelings and I don’t have the right situation at hand for someone to voice my words without it taking more time to partner than I have available to get it right. With these perceived obstacles in my way, it went on the back burner for years, until I experienced yet another doctor-patient encounter to add to the life long list of ailments and injuries being dismissed because of my weight, causing my brain webs to light up. I recalled poetry from Rachel Wiley. The Fat Joke. The creation of this act happen with great speed and passion. One of the most beautiful and powerful aspects of the art of burlesque is the ability to make the audience feel something and to connect. Evoking some kind of feeling should be a core objective of the art. Knowing how many people would be able to relate to Rachel’s words, I instantly felt that I needed to perform to this fantastic piece and reached out to obtain permission to share her work.
Creative costuming is one of my strengths and it was a challenge for me to keep this as simplistic as I felt it needed to be. I knew I had a white lab coat from when I was in nursing school many years ago. Tried it on. It was too small. How serendipitous and pertinent to the content of the act. Rather than modifying it to fit me, I used it. A simple beige slip I already owned became my choice over other costume pieces I had that could have worked. I added rhinestones to make it a “stage” costume, but practicing restraint from the typical ostentatious glamour was the right choice.
A couple of the burlesque movement workshops I’ve taken were centered around expressive choreography. They were the support and push I needed to move in a way that I yearned to move to tell my stories. Special gratitude has a place in my heart and memory for the classes of Rebel Vitale and Gabe Gabriel.
My physical limitations for movement may exist. The limitations society puts on bodies and how they should move are maddeningly absurd.
Art and performance often tell an emotional story. It is a weakness of humanity to dismiss any story, any voice, any pain, or any person. My hopes are vast for how this act will evolve and where it will go. It has already brought several people and myself to tears with simplistic and striking nature. We carry around so much hurt that often rests just under the surface and connecting on an emotional level can be all that is needed to release some of it.
My creative and thrifty essence is tied into the costume so tight, that it is exactly the ingredients from which it is made. I wanted to utilize as much scrap and existing supplies as I had to put this together. Both because I’m in a chronic state of financial strain, and because I felt like it connected with what I would do if I was a milliner, building fantasy with findings. While the costume has evolved and I have purchased a few small supplies, I am staying as true to that vision as possible throughout the life of this artwork. The coat started as an inexpensive purple coat that I used as a base upon which to build my coat-of-many-colors veneer. Rows of silk sari scraps were sewed onto the coat, one by one, until I had a rainbow of re-birthed beauty and no more patience. I dug through my bucket of scrap and managed to find enough trim to give it a mismatched finishing touch around the edges. Topping it off is a tassel that came as a “free gift” when buying rhinestones online.
The waistcoat used the bulk of what remained from the silk scraps, as well as some beautiful red trim that didn’t make it into a previous costuming endeavor. The base was parts of a thrifted vest that I had laying around, which was too small for me to wear, a scrapable bra, some hope and a dream. Even when I have a plan, my sewing projects tend to just happen as they happen.
I can’t remember why I thought I needed a boa, but thank goodness I did. Everything in the boa was from my fabric pile. There are pieces of fabric from projects for my children, remaining scraps from other costumes, remnants people donating to me, cuttings from thrifted curtains and scarves that had just been waiting too long to be made into something, and even some pieces from my grandmother’s fabrics. This boa has lovingly become what I call my “Stripper Quilt”. Imagination lead to a surprise reveal when I decided to bustle the boa up into a bountiful rump. This serves an extra purpose of hiding my sugarbritches. More on those later. 
The original undergarments consisted of a cage style body suit made from excessive amounts of pink glitter elastic I ordered and never used. I made abstract design on the panty part and matching pasties with whatever rhinestones I had on hand. This layer didn’t see much stage time. Upon performances scheduled in Frederick Maryland and Tennessee for the Smoky Mountain Burlesque Festival, I needed to make blue law compliant coverage.
A bra was added with tear-away teacups. Madam Hatter wears a size T cup brassiere. The puns can’t stop. The puns shan’t stop. I decorated the cups with warm colors on my left and cool colors on my right, a subtle throw back to my rainbow coat. My pasties are as close as I could get to looking like tea bags and doilies from the bits of things I had. I thought the yellow looked like the Lipton tea brand tag, but at least one person thought they were eggs without the rest of the costume to give context. Just to make sure there is no confusion and doubt that they are tea and not chicken ovum, I dip them in my cups at the end of the act now.
The gloves were just a pair of burgundy ones I already had. They only became devoted to this act after a piece of feedback I got from Burlypicks was to “maybe decorate my gloves”. Back to the craft hoard. An extra doily and a vintage glove that would never fit my large size Rock-Biter hands both got a bath of pink dye and then became part of my weird and wonderful costume story. The glove-on-glove is fun because I can burlesque the burlesque world by using my teeth on the extra glove fingers to remove the main glove.
Do you see the beautiful mind formulas that could happen? If you know the desired peak and final diameter, it’s possible to math your way into the initial circumference to cut. Most people are more into the hands on approach when it comes to nipple hats. I made a reference chart for your viewing pleasures, if viewing is your pleasure.
That’s great Bearcat, I have showgirl hats for my nip nops, now how do I fasten this to my body?! I’ve seen or heard of the following:
I use Supertape brand toupee tape in AA strips because it’s easily peel-able and can curve nicely onto the pastie shape, skin safe, strong, and easy to remove. (I use it to tape underwear and other costume pieces to myself. If I forget to remove it, it can get vicious and wants to permanently stay on fabric. Just take it off as soon as you’re finished, and it’s fine.) 
If you’re feeling adventurous, experiment with different shapes and designs. “Punchline” pasties are ones that have an extra element of relevance to your act, a final punchline in your joke! (Keep in mind, many people won’t be able to see them. It’s a bonus for those that can.) Some of my work shown here, featuring such hits as the spinning wet floor people from my “Safety First” act and my tea bags from my “Madam Hatter” act.
I tend to use the dark toned glue as nature intended, on my eyelashes. I use the clear/light on the occasion I’m gluing rhinestones or other objects to my face. I haven’t used eyelash glue for anything else, but at the rate I’m going, who knows where life will take me.
I don’t really use this for much, but I have seen people use it for pasties and adhering other items to their body. It’s not skin safe and it’s a pain to clean off, so I don’t recommend doing this. (Future post about pasties and corresponding adhesive will happen.)
Mod Podge can be used as a sealer. I’ve used it when making pasties bases or on the inside of headpieces I’ve dyed to keep it from coloring my forehead. My most substantial Mod Podge Masterpieces are my Cake hair and my Hatter Hat. Both were built with soft items like ribbon or fabric strips. Layer by layer, I coated each strip in the glue and formed into place. It was a test of patience, because I am not built to wait for things to dry (or for reading instruction manuals). I had to fight my natural instinct to mess things up by not waiting. As the layers would dry, they would harden, and then I could continue to add more. One note: Do not leave your Mod Podge prop in your car during a hot summer day, because it will shape shift. Fortunately for me, my incident was minor and I was able to use a blow dryer to heat it up and get it back into form.
There was a time that everything I made was hot glued, because I didn’t know how to do anything. Those times were short and as frustrated as learning new things can be, I’m so glad my days of being a hot-glue-hottie are in my past. Hot glue is handy for a quick fix in emergencies. I mainly only use hot glue now when I need something to dry quickly to proceed with the making process and the end result won’t be only the hot glue holding it together. A hot car will wreck your day if your costume is comprised of hot glue. My most important tip for performers is the same as when I work with little children using it for the first time. If, or when, you get some on your fingers, rub it quickly so it will roll away and not burn your fingers like witches on stakes.
Also known in my house as “Cancer Tube”, “The Beast”, and the thing I buy anytime I’m at Joann Fabrics with an extra coupon to spare. This is what I use most often when it comes to costume and prop building. It comes in many forms. Look at them there all lined up like it’s killer family portrait day. E6000 is toxic! Be sure to protect your lungs with a mask and wear gloves or at least thoroughly wash your hands after use. There is no need to go full out Hazmat suit like you’re Marty McFly and 1950s George is your craft project.
What is needed is a respirator mask that is available online or at home improvement stores. Once protected, there are some decisions to make. Personally, I only use the liquid kind in the tube. They have black, white, and clear. I tend to stock up on clear. They do sell options for the liquid form that have tiny application caps. I’ve tried a handful of times and I end up making more mess when I use these than just being strategic with the standard cap. For rhinestones or other small work, my application method of choice is to take a kabob stick and dab it slightly in glue. That will form as a way to tack the item onto the stick and into the dot of glue where it will live on your costume. There are wax pencils and other specifically designed tools for this. I’m frugal and my cheap method works well enough for me. I also know I would likely lose any tool I spent money buying. Just re-dab as needed when it starts to lose that pick-me-up attraction.
I haven’t used this myself, but I’m told it’s a non-toxic alternative to E6000. This is good for anyone with family or pets who can’t be in a ventilated or separate area when gluing.
I’m hooked on hooks hooking. Cloth covered hooks are a great way to add or modify a costume to be removable (or more easily removable). They are metal hook and eyes, with a layer of fabric covering. I replace all of my bra attachments with these and use them on other things like skirts, wraps, etc. 
When I’m using these for the back of a bra, I will remove all of the standard hook closures and then sew the hook directly onto the ends. Because my bras tend to have 3-5 rows of hooks due to carrying around boulder boobers, I will sometimes change the shape of the ends to be more of a trapezoid instead of a rectangle, then it will look better if I’m only using one cloth hook. If the ends don’t overlap and I leave them as huge rectangles, having one hook with leave a space between that makes me feel have weird feelings. There are times where I will use fabric to make completely new ends. This usually happens for me if I need to extend the circumference of the bra, if I’m building a bra from scratch, or if I’m Frankensteining things together.
Bearcat Betty 