Nipple tassel tournament tests best of burlesque

By Golnar Motevalli

LONDON (Reuters Life!) - It begins with a coy glance or fluttering false eye lashes and always ends in nipple tassels and underpants.

Wolf-whistling revelers greeted a showdown of ostrich feathers, satin corsets and red lipstick in a chandeliered London hall this month as 30 women competed to be crowned best newcomer at the International Burlesque Festival in London.

Competitors followed the traditional striptease sequence, removing one article of clothing at a time to the catcalls of the audience, but each performance had its own twist.

All abided by the unspoken rule of burlesque which stipulates that nipples remain concealed and underpants stay on.

Bijou Noir, real name Monique Learmond, performed as Marie Antoinette and disrobed to reveal an intricate petticoat.

"For me, burlesque isn't so much striptease because I studied fashion, it's more about making the costumes and doing something choreographed to my own music," said Learmond who was accompanied to the show by her mother Shirley.

The climax to Learmond's act involved firing a pistol and shaking tassels attached to her thong underwear that gyrated above her bare buttocks to the tune of the Marseillaise, while she waved the French flag.

"In the traditional meaning, burlesque is to mock something, in terms of entertainment it's the poor man's follies, put together for maybe someone that couldn't afford a Broadway revue," explained Chaz Royal, organizer of the International Burlesque Festival in London.