follow the yellow brick road

hose of you who are followers on Facebook might have seen my teaser post about this year's Adventures in Oz burlesque show.  We're in the thick of it now, with rehearsals and costume construction, and I'm getting super excited!  Last year I played a poppy (you can spy me in the promo video!), but this year I pitched an Emerald City act and I'll be performing a Rococo Emerald City on the big stage!  I probably jumped in the deep end a bit with this act, as it will be my first real burlesque performance and the costuming is insane (think all-green Marie Antoinette realness), and I'm no pro at choreography, but I'm super excited to take it on!  As per usual, I get a little bit of tunnel vision on this kind of thing, which means I've been wanting all of the green things in my life.  The idea to take on the role of the Emerald City actually came to me because of my green hair, and now I'm like ALLOFTHEGREENTHINGS.  I've been on the lookout for a green dress to wear post-show and this one struck my fancy.  Last year I got a dress covered in poppies after the Adventures in Oz show, which fulfilled all my poppy dreams.  I kind of love that they both have similar silhouettes and I also had an excuse to snag another floofy petticoat, because who doesn't need more floofy petticoats?  Right?

 
dress + petticoat + cardigan(similar)/courtesy of modcloth  shoes(similar)/courtesy of seychelles necklace/thrifted :: shades (similar)/courtesy of lulu's
One of the things I love about burlesque is that it gives me an avenue to explore other sides of myself.  I've always felt like I couldn't fit myself into one box, constantly wanting to bounce from box to box, trying them on, having fun with them, but never wanting to fully commit to any of them.  I'm definitely not a full time pin-up model, dancer, sultry minx, but it's nice to have a venue to explore that side of myself.  I also really enjoy being a part of the burlesque community in general.  There's such an empowered and outspoken group of people in the burlesque community fighting for the rights of marginalized people in such a subversive and bold way.  There's so much body positivity, acceptance of sexuality, whether gay, lesbian, transgender, straight, etc.  It was so cool to go to Burlycon this past October and meet burlesquers from around the globe.  So many different people from so many walks of life and backgrounds.  And so. much. glitter.