Topless Vlog #58

Now on Vimeo! Apparently a topless girl yammering about sewing gets blacklisted on Dailymotion for "incite to sexuality." Ha!

From 2013 to 2014

With Lili & Richard. (C) Nanette Gonzales, LA Weekly

I'm a little late with my annual review of all things Snapper. I've been seduced by the world of hockey, and I spend a nice amount of my down time watching Kings games live or on television. (By "down time" I mean I'm eating, working out, or sewing while I watch. Going to games is like a vacation from my "down time" work.)

Here's what 2013 held for me:

Hollywood Burlesque Festival (C) SH Photo 2013

• 50 performances in 39 shows. One show and one performance less than 2012, but 2013 was a big year for me otherwise. I focused on quality and longevity last year. This totals 372 performances in the six years I've been doing burlesque (at the end of 2012).
• Taught lots of privates. I also taught in Las Vegas and Hot Springs. I taught at Greater Los Angeles Area Mensa Regional Gathering, What Katie Did on Melrose, and Hollywood Burlesque Festival.
• Performed in two inaugural festivals: Las Vegas Burlesque Festival and Hollywood Burlesque Festival.
• Short touring hops to Dallas twice, Hot Springs twice, Ft. Worth, Houston, and Las Vegas (a short tour before their festival). I love seeing friends and family and making new friends when I travel. It's great to see these folks at least once a year.
• Continuing education. In 2013 I took classes with Stephanie Blake and Tiffany Carter. I returned to Slimmons after some time away. I also returned to ballet. I continue to work with a choreographer to help me shape some of my ideas for better presentation. I completed two online sewing classes via Craftsy: handbag design & construction and tailoring.
• Improvements in the workshop.  I got a serger! I've been able to tailor a 2012 Kings Stanley Cup tee, make a couple pieces of lingerie, work on the husband's Batman cape, and slap a finishing edge on a wedding dress with it so far. I turned my home desk into a cutting table with a big cutting mat. I bought a pair of Gingher thread nippers, and took advantage of the notions sales at Joann Fabrics to get pattern weights and a rotary cutter for detail. I stocked up on silamide and made a pressing ham. Andrew got a new drill for fan staves and headdresses.
• Created two new acts, revamped an act from late 2012, made the mermaid tail, and created the Rewedding dress. We had to rework some of the choreography to make the Rewedding dress fit the "Skin" choreography, but it worked brilliantly.
• I was part of the burlesque theater scene for James Franco's upcoming Bukowski film.  I chorographed, costumed, and performed. It was a fun day of shooting. I don't know when the film will be released or how much of me you'll actually see, but it was a wonderful experience.
• Hollywood Burlesque Festival. Andrew and I were on the producer team for over a year, and last year there was enough momentum in the community and determination from Exec Producer Lili vonSchtupp to get it off the ground. This event took up most of the last quarter of the year. We made headdresses, created web content, performed in fundraisers, sought sponsors, and watched tons of submission videos. I embellished the costumes for the finale, served as finale understudy, choreographed the two waves of community dancers who joined the showgirls in the finale, and made garments for fundraiser auctions. I coordinated weekly visits to Slimmons for the burlesque community and liased with sponsor and friend Richard Simmons. (His mother Shirley was a fan dancer. I had the joy of making white feather fans like Shirley's for him.) Performing, teaching, working with the judges -- it was quite an event. I'm lucky to have been part of the entire event. I've been a little lame on the blog front since the event because it was so intense!
• The Rewedding. That was quite an accomplishment for me last year. I've waxed on and on about how amazing it was. That's because it was amazing.

  

  With Glama Sutra, Prix de Beaute & James Franco

   I would remarry Mr. Snapper every day if I could. If you haven't watched the video, it'll give you a big smile.

What's in the works for 2014?

• An instructional video. I'll give more details as I get closer to production. It will be unique and fun. This will probably be my first crowd-funded endeavor.
• Tour hops to Arkansas and Texas. Maybe a couple more festivals. I'm performing at the Great Burlesque Exposition in Boston on my birthday, then Mr. Snapper and I are performing at Southwest Burlesque Showcase the following weekend.
• A brief European tour. I'm plotting and planning with my tour mate so we can make it happen. I'll announce tour dates when everything is secured. Plans are for autumn.
• Hollywood Burlesque Festival! We're bringing you more awesome this year.
• More new skills. I've enrolled in an online class on speedy sewing techniques. Still working on the ballet (I have dreams of doing pointe work eventually), and still hitting Slimmons.
• I'd like to get published again. I have to investigate what to do to make that happen.

Stocking Class at What Katie Did

Photo (C) Ginger Liu 2013.

When I first learned there was burlesque happening in present day, I devoured everything I could find about the subject. I remember getting early issues of Bachelor Pad Magazine and seeing ads for What Katie Did. The retro-inspired lingerie in the ads was fantastic, and I wanted more. I placed an order or two when there was only the shop across the pond. They opened a Los Angeles store a couple years ago in the very fashionable strip of Melrose. They were less than 30 minutes from my house, but I still found myself ordering my underthings by mail. I'd been on the mailing list for almost as long as I'd been doing burlesque, but I'd never been in the store or tried their stockings.

The stockings workshop, conducted by Hollywood Burlesque Festival, gave me the opportunity to do both. Arranged by Lili vonSchtupp, the evening was filled with three mini-classes of ladies learning about the stocking peel. It was a bit of a dream come true to teach these classes with Lili, nestled in this adorable boutique, surrounded by silky unmentionables. (I had seen many London workshops in their newsletter over the years. I was really excited to be teaching at their Los Angeles shop.) WKD gifted every attendee with a pair of stockings, and I fell in love with mine from the first moment. Just the right amount of stretch for an exciting peel and more durable than the "one size" options I've purchased in a pinch. They were considerably sturdy; I peeled my stockings about 30 times and wore them around the shop without shoes, only developing a run in the toe at the end of the night.

Photo (C) Ginger Liu 2013.

What Katie Did also gave attendees an incredible discount. I made a little splurge of my own at the Free the Girls.
end of the evening to celebrate some great classes. With wine, cupcakes and candies, it was like a fantastically festive hen party. We even collected a few more bras for our Hollywood Burlesque Festival charity,

What Katie Did is located at 7970 1/2 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046. Open 11am-7pm Monday through Saturday. What Katie Did is a sponsor of the Hollywood Burlesque Festival.