Gorgeous Photographs of Exotic Dancers From the 1890s

Burlesque is an art form that still thrives today in progressive artistic spaces (that is, pretty far away from Scores). The tradition has a long history in America, incorporating talents such as musical abilities and athletic feats. (To strip, as the wise Stephen Sondheim wrote in the classic American musical, you’ve got to have a gimmick.) Exotic dancers today, however, look much different than their artistic predecessors, and these images of burlesque performers taken in the 1890s (found via Lost at E Minor) are a lovely look at the creativity and fashions of a budding artistic movement that celebrated femininity and sexuality.

via flavorwire.com/