The Pin up Plan -The Art of Seduction

The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene has been in my literary arsenal for some time now.  One of my many "phases" involved a fascination with courtesans..which led me to this book and also a love of burlesque.

Art of Seduction - Robert Greene

I am a big fan of empowered women, and I think that courtesans and burlesque performers get a bad rep.  In reality, courtesans had far more freedom, education and power than their married couterparts, and burlesque (in my opinion) takes a certain level of comfort in your skin and self confidence.  (Not to gloss over the fact that there was indeed some ugliness in these professions as well..but I prefer to focus on the positives ;)

Veronica Franco, Courtesan Extraordinaire (The movie Dangerous Beauty was about her.)

Dita Von Teese, Burlesque performer and vintage darling

But I digress.  I had considered doing just a book review of The Art of Seduction for the Pin up Plan, but then it struck me that the different seductive characters addressed in this book can correlate to your pin up style.

For the purpose of this blog, I will only address the female seduction styles as follows:

• The Siren
• The Ideal
• The Natural
• The Coquette
• The Charmer
• The Charismatic
• The Star
• The Anti-Seducer

My intention is to relate each style to a pin up (past or present) and/or historical figure, to break it down as it relates to style preferences and to give examples of how you can use it to enhance your personal style.

..and before you think I'm advocating that you go out and seduce the world (though I'm certainly not opposed to that ;) I think this book can be read many ways.  It's not only a tool for "seduction", but insight into how you interact with others, what your strengths are and how you can use them to communicate to your best advantage.  After all, successful communication is flirting at it's best ;)

Hugs and Smooches,
D

The Pin up Plan

Soooo..if you'll all indulge me and remember wayyyy back to January when I posted the ConstantlyAlice Manifesto, I had listed several things I wanted to accomplish in 2012.  One of them was the Signature Style Project, which just wrapped up last month and was a LOT of fun.  The next thing I'm hoping to tackle incorporates two of the items on the manifesto list.  Number one, a 30 day hair and makeup challenge and Number four, modelling for the blog and my Etsy shop.

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Now, I love, love, love anything to do with hair and make-up, so that part is really not much of a challenge for me, but modelling is a horse of a different color.  It requires putting myself out there a little more than I usually do and, as I'm a perfectionist, it will take practice, practice, practice, so I had to come up with a way to really motivate myself.

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Enter the Pin up Plan.

I love vintage pin ups.  Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas are particular favorites, as are models like Bettie Page, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable.  My concept for the blog and the shop photos is to go with a very retro/cheesecake/pin up feel, so it would only make sense to incorporate those ideas into my plan of attack.

The Pin up Plan series will incorporate the following:

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1. Information Gathering - Literature, YouTube videos, and yes, another Pinterest Board (which you can follow here)
2. Getting into shape, Bombshell style - No secrets among friends, I hate working out.  But if I can put a pin up spin on it (like doing burlesque workout videos and pilates) it will be fun!
3. Pin up Hair and Make up - This will encompass the 30 day challenge where I will try a new "look" each day for a month!
4. Pin up Films - A review of movies that have that bombshell feel.
5. Glamour Photography - (No worries, nothing R-Rated ;)  Here I'm just going for a pin up "feel".  Poses, make up, etc.
6. Outfit Posts and a new look for the ConstantlyAlice Etsy shop!

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I just ordered some books on retro make up and glamour photography.  Can't wait to share!!

Hugs and Smooches,
D

Book Review - American Rose: A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee

I was raised in a family of performers.  My childhood was surrounded by music, movement, feathers, colored lights and sequins.  My Grandmother, Alice, owned a dance academy.  My mother and aunts all danced and taught lessons and my father was a drummer.  Alice was a visionary.  She was a brilliant choreographer and her mind was filled with beautiful dance routines, costumes, stage props and lights that she would jot down in the notebook she was never without.

I'm not sure if this environment is what colored my perception of life, or if it's just naturally in our family to want to perform (if you've spent any time around us in a group of two or more, you'd probably put your money on the latter.  We have a tendency to draw attention ;) but I grew up with a love of the stage, showmanship, glitz and glamour.  I wear vintage because it's unique and because it feels like I'm putting on a new "character" when I get dressed, and I have a passion for ballet, chorus lines, follies, vaudeville and old school burlesque.

Which brings me to the subject of our book review, Gypsy Rose Lee.  I love Gypsy because she was a thinking man's burlesque artist.  People did not come to see her just because she was beautiful, but because she had wit and charisma.  One of the quotes from American Rose states:

“She took a full fifteen minutes to peel off a single glove...and she was so damned good at it I would’ve gladly given her fifteen more.”

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I think this says it all.  She was a woman who knew her craft and performed it better than anyone else.

Her childhood was a hard one.  Louise (as she was known then) was the "ugly duckling" while her sister June was the talent.  Her mother, Rose, travelled with the girls, putting them in vaudeville acts that showcased June while putting Louise in the background.  At 15, Louise married one of the other dancers in the act and struck out on her own.  After trying to go it alone in vaudeville, she finally found her place in burlesque, changing her name to Gypsy and crafting her act around her wit and humor and becoming famous for her "intellectual" strip routines.

Gypsy also tried her hand (with little success) at acting and penned a mystery novel, The G-String Murders, that was made into the movie Lady of Burlesque starring Barbara Stanwyck. 

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In American Rose, Karen Abbott does an excellent job of telling the story of Gypsy's life.  She makes you feel for the child with the overbearing and abusive mother, exposes the vulnerable side of the queen of burlesque and creates an image of the whole woman and the events that shaped her into a star.

(Not to worry, this is pretty G-rated..another one of my favorite things about Gypsy ;)

Hugs and Smooches,
D