Bawd Squad
With scissors at the ready, Kathy Fischer kneels in front of a 14-inch, silver fringe skirt. “Too long,” Robin Antin says, holding the postage-stamp-sized garment up to her tiny waist.
Snip, snip, snip.
“Shorter, shorter!”
There’s no skirt too short or corset too tight for the Pussycat Dolls. When Antin created the burlesque group seven years ago to perform as an opening act at Johnny Depp’s Viper Room, costuming it was a one-woman show.
“It was just me and my sewing machine,” the professional dancer and choreographer says, pulling a few of the group’s original corsets, now in tatters, out of a brown paper grocery bag.
But now that the Pussycat Dolls are presenting an expanded show at the Roxy, Antin has amped up their sultry look, with some help from L.A. designer Deborah Lindquist and Fischer, a Pilates teacher turned fashion student.
There’s nary a bare nipple in the hourlong musical revue, which has a cast of seasoned dancers and high-profile headliners such as Carmen Electra and Nikka Costa, wearing everything from hot-pink corsets and garter belts to GI jackets and ruffled bloomers.
On stage, the results are captivating. The costumes speak to the current infatuation with sex kittens and burlesque.
The bustiers and tulle skirts in the film “Moulin Rouge” last spring didn’t go unnoticed by Yves Saint Laurent and Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga, who sent similar looks down the runways.
Even Frederick’s of Hollywood, the legendary lingerie retailer, is enjoying renewed interest in its vampy corsets and bustiers.
The appeal of burlesque fashion? “It’s a fantasy that’s more fun than sexual,” says Antin, who has worked with Gwen Stefani and Ricky Martin. “And the costumes are part of that,” the 32-year-old adds, sitting down on the coffee table in Fischer’s Westwood apartment, which has served as an atelier for the past two months.
Using the pinup art of Alberto Vargas (creator of the ‘40s-era Vargas girl) and Gil Elvgrin as a guide, Lindquist, 45, and Fischer, 38, scoured swap meets and Army surplus stores across the Southland for vintage lingerie and military wear.
For a USO number, the designers replaced the backs of Marine dress-blue jackets with corset lacing and added rhinestone trim to the pockets. A navy-blue sailor shirt was updated with three-quarter-length sleeves and grosgrain bows at the elbows. Bras were covered with decorator ribbon in a stars-and-stripes pattern and emblazoned with vintage anchor patches.
A beach scene comes alive with 1920s-inspired bathing costumes. To create a nautical feel, the designers added black grosgrain lacing to the sleeves of a cropped pink and white striped spandex shirt. Antin’s mother, Brenda Antin, supplied vintage life preservers from her antiques shop.
And the work didn’t end there. Many of the 300 pieces had to be hand-sewn so that the rhinestones, sequins and ribbon would stay put during vigorous dance moves.
Fischer secured fuchsia ruffles and silver paillettes to a pair of pink panties found at a thrift store, and decorated a black sequined corset with gold stars for Electra.
MAC makeup artists completed the doll look with false eyelashes, sometimes as many as three pairs for each performer. They pressed glitter into red lipstick before applying it, and used blush from MAC’s “Dolled Up” line on the apples of cheeks.
The Pussycat Dolls are just one incarnation of what has become a full-fledged burlesque craze. Founded in 1995, Velvet Hammer is also an underground favorite in L.A., playing at different venues. Regular women are getting in on the act too. Crunch Gym in West Hollywood began offering a “Cardio Striptease” class last year. Actress Sheila Kelley has a waiting list for the 90-minute “Stripping for the Everyday Woman” classes she teaches at her backyard studio in Hancock Park. Even Frederick’s of Hollywood has made a comeback. During L.A. fashion week last month, the legendary lingerie retailer staged a steamy fashion show at hip boite Star Shoes, combining lacy looks from the vaults with new pieces.
“We’ve seen a major increase in sales of the classic Frederick’s styles, including corsets and bustiers,” says Frederick’s president and chief executive, Linda LoRe. “Particularly now, we are seeing the younger generation of women who are empowered by their sexuality and regard their femininity as a positive and powerful force.”
Come fall, sex kittens are still likely to be purring. On the runway in Milan, Prada showed playful peignoir sets and teddies. At Moschino, models draped themselves seductively over a ballet bar, creating a striptease vibe, while Zac Posen’s girls vamped it up in the spirit of 1930s Hollywood vixens.
Corsets continue to inspire accessories too, such as Lulu Guinness’ “lace corset tote” and Alexander McQueen’s Victorian lace-up boots, both available this fall.
So it’s no surprise that the Pussycat Dolls are toying with the idea of launching a clothing line of their own. Because as Lindquist puts it, “There’s a little Pussycat Doll in everyone.”
