Every performer needs a stage name and it can take some time before you find the perfect blend of attitude and pun. To get some creative ideas flowing, we've created a simple and free Burlesque stage name generator. 

It's fun, fast and free...really!

-Kuhmillion

Okay, no corny Christmas jingles, I promise. We thought it would be fun to put together an entire Christmas burlesque outfit with the “12 days of Christmas” theme. This outfit can be given as a gift, one piece at a time, each day for 12 days. What a way to build up the excitement and keep your special someone waiting in anticipation!

We’ve included pieces that we have in our boutique, and also a few things that you’ll have to get locally at your favorite retailer. Use this as a starting point; mix things up and have fun!

1 - Ruffle Panties
Let’s start the 12 days of Christmas lingerie with a fabulous basic: a ruffle panty. If you’re going to be creating a burlesque inspired lingerie outfit, ruffle panties are the natural foundation. Tons of colors and different styles, and these lovelies are just so cute.
2 - Garter Belt
You will be needing some elegant hosiery, and the burlesque style calls for old fashioned stockings. A fancy garter belt makes the perfect second day Christmas gift and keeps the lucky giftee interested, knowing that stockings are also part of the days of gifts to come!

3 - Stockings
But, of course! You could move this one down the Christmas lingerie list to keep the excitement building, but I thought I’d just include it here. We have a ton of hosiery and stocking styles, so pick a few and give this day’s gift a little variety.

4 - Heels
Use this Christmas list as an exciting opportunity to buy some new heels! Yes it’s quite a burden, we know. You’ll no doubt already have a ton of favorite places to buy shoes from. May we suggest something with a closed toe and in patent leather? Zappos.com is one of our favorite online shoe retailers.


5 - Overbust Corset
So let’s imagine you’re trying on your burlesque outfit. What’s next? The corset. You have a couple of options. You can go with an underbust corset and then coordinate your ruffle panties, corset and a bra, or you can just get an overbust corset like one of these and make sure your ruffle panties match in a pleasing way. Now if you want to, you could stop the gifts here and you’d have a fantastic burlesque outfit. But if you want to go the full 12 days of Christmas Lingerie, read on.

6 - Gloves
As we progress with our 12 days and add to our burlesque outfit, gloves make a beautiful next step. Satin or lace gloves are the essence of glamour and can be fun to try on right after they’re unwrapped. Opera length gloves like these add a glamorous touch with a bit of mystery, which will keep the excitement and anticipation going.


7 - Hat
Talk about cute! Christmas attire is often about cuteness, so we should incorporate that into our 12 Days of Christmas burlesque gifts. Right now, these miniature hats are so popular and I see guests at burlesque shows wearing these all the time. Everything is cuter in miniature, so include one of these in your outfit to add some cute into your sexy burlesque look.


8 - Eyelashes
Burlesque has a big fantasy component to it, and sometimes the little things can add so much. Eyelashes like these are really inexpensive and add so much drama. These little gifts are flirty and really step up the “wow” factor. Only a few days left now!


9 - Makeup
Along with those eyelashes, a bold makeup look can be a lot of fun. We don’t sell makeup in our boutique (yet) but here are a few makeup packages from Sephora that will really compliment your burlesque outfit and make a wonderful gift for your 12 days of Christmas Lingerie. A great kit for amazing eyes is "Smoked" by Urban Decay.
10 - Jewelry
One of our favorite pieces of jewelry to add to a burlesque outfit is a bold choker. It really gives an outfit that cabaret style that is so fun and eye-catching. Arthlin, a fantasy & romance inspired jewelry boutique on Etsy.com, has a lot of wonderful chokers to choose from, such as this red satin flower choker.

Now if you are really going the full 12 days of Christmas Lingerie, burlesque style, then I know you’re still with me. The last two days are the fancy wrapping and the cherry on top!

11 - Bustle Skirt
Add a bustle skirt to add on to the bottom of your corset. This is an ostentatious little item that adds interest to the waist, creates some volume and might just transport you to the 19th century. We have a few different styles to choose from. 

12 - Pasties
So assuming that the 12 Days of Christmas will end with your very own private show, complete with a burlesque-style striptease, let’s make the final day of gifts be pasties! The “crowd” will love it, trust me!


-Beth 

Lingerie makes a fun and exciting gift for Christmas. You can keep it simple and buy a simple pair of panties, or you can go crazy and buy an amazing intricate burlesque outfit with all sorts of accessories. On the simple end, cute and sexy Christmas panties make an easy gift that can be paired up with other gifts and wrapped, or alone, slipped into a stocking. No matter what you choose, your special someone will probably be thrilled by the gift. We hand select all of the lingerie that we carry here at Kuhmillion, so we love everything we carry, but here are a few panties, knickers and boyshorts that we can recommend this Christmas.

Ruffles
Ruffle panties are definitely “in” right now and are probably here to stay because they're just so cute. We love brief styles of Christmas panties, like these champagne floral lace panties with ruffle detail.

...and these Christmas-y green on black ruffle panties.

For more of a straight across the hips boyshort ruffle panty, these red ones are perfect for Christmas!

 
And these white ruffle Christmas panties with attached garters and a cute black bow are super hot. They also come in black!

A Little Sparkle and Glamour
Personally, I like the more glamorous and satiny styles of knickers and panties. Keeping with the Christmas look and theme, these lovely red and black striped satin panties are super hot and actually come as a matching set. How could you not love how the back is cut high to show off the booty a little?

These satin low rise booty shorts in silver or gold were pretty much like Christmas ornaments. They are skin tight and would make a wonderful stocking stuffer surprise.

How about these black low rise sequined booty shorts? Sparkly and super sleek, these lovely knickers demand attention and because they're black, they will go with just about anything.

 And I have to mention one of my newest faves. This pinstriped booty short with matching bra is such a fancy and refined set. I absolutely love it and the pink ruffles on the back of the panty are pretty adorable.

It's a lot of fun to just browse around and see what lingerie strikes you, and what you and your partner would both like.

Check out all of our fabulous panties for Christmas

And of course Christmas panties can be just the beginning of an exciting gift. Lots of other things can be paired with them including gloves, garter belts, stockings, hair accessories and more.

-Patrick 

We work with many burlesque performers and troupes in town, and we always have a good time. One of the members of Black Widow Burlesque is the lovely, talented Betty Blue, who will be performing THIS Sunday at their annual Spanksgiving Show at Emos. She and I sat down for a fun little interview a few weeks ago, where I did my best to play journalist for an hour and get to know the person behind the stage persona. Enjoy.

Patrick: How long have you been doing burlesque?

Betty Blue: I have just celebrated my 2 year burlesque anniversary :) 

P: What is your favorite style of dance?

BB: I love and appreciate all types of dance from classic tap, contemporary, swing, jazz, salsa and hip hop. Each style has so much to offer its performer and the audience. I find that no matter what style it is, those who have that spark in their eye and a love of performing are always more entertaining and engaging than those with perfect technique.

P: What is a favorite burlesque outfit that you have put together?

BB: I really like my Stray Cat outfit, especially because the "garbage can" I emerge from is pretty tragic, hahaha. Things went awry in the creation of that particular prop, but because it is so bad I love it even more :) It is also a really fun number to perform and other parts of the costume include a long kitty tail, cat ears and a toy mouse. Burlesque is just too much fun!


P: What do you think about just before you step onstage?

BB: I usually clear my mind and take a deep breath before I get onstage. 

P: What’s the most surprising thing that you didn’t know about burlesque until you got into it?

BB: I had never seen burlesque before I started doing it, so there was a lot I did not know. The main part I was unaware of was that you do not have to look like a show girl to do it. That is always how I imagined it and I was so delighted to learn that gorgeous women of all shapes and sizes are performing this fabulous art form. I also did not know that you strip down to pasties, so preparation for my audition was pretty nerve wracking. Once I got in front of the ladies of Black Widow Burlesque and started performing I forgot all of my worries, felt really comfortable and realized, yeah, I can get used to this :) 

P: Do you think you have to be an exhibitionist to do burlesque?

BB: I do not think so at all. I definitely am not shameful of my body, but I don't consider myself an exhibitionist. I think most people who do burlesque are just confident performers who love and appreciate the art form. For the most part the semi-nudity is an afterthought or even the punchline to your overall performance statement. It is more about the piece you have created and all of the intricate and carefully crafted elements of your overall performance. 

P: What other burlesque performer do you admire the most?

BB: I love performers who really listen to use their music and let their staging, props and costumes tell a story. Those who use humor and intelligence to entertain their audience always stand out to me. My favorites are Eaton Johnson and Shelby Mine of Queertini Time. I always look forward to their performances.

P: Who’s your favorite actor of all time?

BB: I would have to say Gene Kelly. He was the quintessential triple threat. I have always loved musical theater and I grew up watching old movie musicals. On The Town is also the reason for my undeniable attraction to sailors in their dress whites :)


P: What brings you the most joy in life?

BB: The things that bring me the most joy in my life are my relationships with people; my friends are very important to me. I also love performing. It has always been a big part of my personality and it has never been limited to the stage. I have given many impromptu living room and grocery store performances as a child, created dinner theater and radio shows with my sisters for my family growing up and I will take any opportunity I have to crack jokes at all types of social functions. The world is a stage, right?

P: Where is your most favorite place to be?

BB: This is a difficult one for me, because I love to travel, so I would have to say that my favorite place to be is wherever I am! I try to make adventure everywhere I go and keep life interesting. Right now, I have a very strong and passionate love affair with Austin, TX and I do not see an end in sight. 

P: What advice can you give to up-and-comers?

BB: The best advice I could give would be to to always learn and grow in your performances, but do not lose yourself and all of the various performance styles and the creativity inside of you that brought you to the burlesque world. Burlesque is such a versatile art form, so there are various directions you can go in and there is a place for all of it. Never feel pressure to conform to the overall trends in your area or even your troupe, but instead let other performers inspire you and push you to be the best at what you do and continue to hone all of the wonderful things that make you different. 

You can see Betty Blue, the entire Black Widow Burlesque troupe and MANY more burlesque performers in Austin, this Sunday at their annual Spanksgiving Show. We'll be there too so don't miss this one!

-Patrick 

It’s currently November, which, in Texas means I can pretty much walk around in shorts without  so much as a chill, but as the holidays roll around, that won’t be the case. Unfortunately, for many burlesque dancers, the time for skimpy apparel has long since passed the point of comfort. So, here’s the problem many of us face – how in the heck do we stay warm, while getting ready to take it all off?

The art of burlesque can be very strenuous, but sometimes a frenetic jiggle just isn’t enough to keep the circulation going! Here are some tips on how to maintain the illusion of the tease, without complete exposure to the elements.

Layers – A great way to keep the heat on is to start with heavy layers. Think opulent velvets, or furs (faux fur tends to be cheaper AND warmer). Cashmeres and wool overcoats can make for a dramatic reveal, and by the time you’re done dancing in all those heavy layers, you’ll definitely have worked up a sweat. Pair a floor sweeping velvet or wool coat with a satin and lace chemise, or a bra and panty set in icy tones for a glamorous (and cozy) finale.


Take a Cue from Figure Skaters – Dancing on ice is certainly a challenge for temperature regulation, but figure skaters have got it down! Many figure skating costumes give the illusion of bare skin, without really revealing a thing. A nude bodysuit, or even nude hose covered with fishnets and topped with a burlesque corset will give the impression of bare skin from afar. If you aren’t going for a full reveal, don’t be afraid to choose a bodysuit studded with crystals. You can also take advantage of a warm nude colored bodysuit for dances like a fan dance, or you can sew pasties or tassels right onto a burlesque teddy for some added excitement that won’t leave your teeth chattering.


Know Your Venue – Before you choose your burlesque costumes, try to spend some time on the stage in your chosen venue with the lights on, and the climate control set for a show. This will let you know exactly how much cold you need to plan for. If that’s not possible, plan several versions of your burlesque costume, so you have options when it’s time to perform. While putting together your burlesque outfit, also plan for what you’ll be wearing to mingle before and after the show. A wrap or voluminous shawl is a great way to turn a plunging neckline into a comfortably elegant ensemble.

-Rouge Dubonnet