It's been TOO LONG!

I'm ashamed to say it has been almost a whole YEAR since my last blog entry....I feel like I am making some sort of confession there....

BUT. Now I feel it is time to have a bit of a recap, some would call it a refresh, or a relaunch.

Since making and selling my first pair of burlesque pasties in JANUARY 2009 I feel I've come a long way. Sometimes projects get put on the back burner for a while due to the day job and other commitments. I'm sure you know the feeling.

Please don't be mistaken in thinking I am a newcomer to the burlesque scene. I haven't crept in through the back door. I was however a late starter at around 40 years of age. I've spent the past four and a half years building up a relationship and identifying who my customers are. Website stats are very handy for that!

During that period of time a LOT has been done. I've performed burlesque, although not in a prolific way, qualified and started my own business as a fitness instructor and also assisted my husband with his vintage business side-line. I am thankful I've got no children, I just wouldn't have been able to cope! Hats off to all you Mums.

It's true, that old saying: "life begins at forty" - I am living proof of that. It's okay to NOT KNOW what you want to do with your life....I am aware and very fortunate in that I happen to LOVE what I'm doing at the moment, although working for yourself is extremely hard and no guarantee of instant wealth. That's probably why I turned to the fitness industry for work, a stable, modest income as I somehow knew I'd never make a living from making burlesque accessories! Good luck to anyone who does.

Which brings us back to tassels.....I do this because firstly I enjoy it and as I was originally trained in textiles to MA degree level I think it was important for me to be doing something creative. It's not all about the money. I also don't take note of what other burlesque designers are doing, because I don't really care and nobody can accuse me of copying. Nor do I recreate other people's work when asked - and I have been asked a fair few times, believe me... If you like my designs, welcome to my world! If you have stuck by me during hard times, for this I thank you.

I'm pleased now to be back on track after a year with my head down, in a tracksuit,WORKING. I've rebuilt my website which has been around for a while also applying myself to updating it more often. I've also got two very trusted reputable retailers who I am honoured to work with. PLUS UPCOMING exciting projects with a very artistic photographer......but that, I think, is material for another blog post.

So, there's a few more pieces to the jigsaw that is Helene Bach Burlesque Style.....pop over to my website and facebook page to see more frequent updates and a little more insight.

www.helenebachburlesquestyle.co.uk 

www.facebook.com/helenebachburlesquestyle

Check out my photo stream on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/helenebachburlesquestyle/photos_stream

Some recent custom orders.....

Large TIKI MASK pasties.



Stunning roulette wheel tassels.



I even made this Statue of Liberty/Semiramis head dress for a burlesque performer!



More custom made items.....I've been doing custom designs since the start. These were for a New York themed act...you can also see some mini shower puff pasties at the top right of the picture. Strange request, but VERY effective when seen on stage!



Ok, not such an ORIGINAL idea, but a popular theme nonetheless. I give the customer what they ask for.
See you next time.

Thank God it's Friday!

Sitting here in front of a public computer after coming out of my day job in a gym, I must admit I look a proper "stunner". Bad hair day ain't the word! Poles apart from my stage persona, I'll be returning home to wash the gym off and hopefully style my hair in a suitable ladylike manner, as glam as possible, in fact!

I've been looking at lovely vintage hairstyles inspired by the time when a woman's hair was her crowning glory. Will I ever achieve one of those gloriously sculpted styles?
As my next appearance on stage will be coming up in august, there's not much time left, what with rehearsing and a costume revamp, borne of necessity as my last act completely blew an already non-existent budget!
Learning some thing new every day, I've found out what a cage bra is, and I am part way through making one for my fortune teller act that I'm planning on relaunching in august.
So what hairstyles could I have? Perhaps I should have it quite curly and wavy, or even a head dress? I found a couple of images to inspire me.








Now I need to go back and have a practice at hair do's and head dresses. I'm also covered in tan lines from this weekend's trip to Wales. I think a spray tan is in order as the weather is doing not much else except rain! Aaaargh!
See you next time with pics of my revamped fortune teller costume.
Later, my pretties! xx

What a great weekend.....!

Monday always rolls round all too soon, making me NOT want to go to my day job as a fitness instructor, especially when I have had such a fantastic weekend. I am now skint but happy thanks to Heresy and Heelz' fabulous Alternative and Burlesque Fair Held in Birmingham on Saturday. The first one to be held in Birmingham, approximately 600 people came through the door, which I guess you could call a success. Here is the link to the website, go see for your self!

http://thealternativeandburlesquefair.com/

During the previous week, I went shoe shopping for some suitable summer footwear. I'm not a sandals type of girl, so it was either wedges or ballet pumps for me. Actually, it ended up being BOTH.

Both pairs from Peacock's, wedges were £18, and the ballet pumps were just £10.

I ended up wearing the pumps as my outfit which you can see further down was black and white for the most part. BUT there were a few too many black and white spotted dresses being worn! We could have formed a burlesque troupe, I think it would have looked good on stage!

Above you can see my purchases from the day: 3 superb pairs of lashes, a gorgeous large green hair flower clip, a skull and cross necklace and standard issue flesh tone fishnet tights also a pair of contrast seamed stockings. Essentials I think you will agree. That's how I spent my pocket money!

.....my outfit for the day. Spotted dress decorated with a white corsage flower. My necklace was custom made for me by Rockabilly Baby who I found on Facebook. It looks like a chest tattoo from a distance, but is much less permanent, also pain free!

Well that's part one of my account of the day spent in Birmingham. I'll be back next time with more about the Alternative and Burlesque Fair.

See you soon, my pretties xx

It's good to be BACH.....

It's been a long time. Too long in fact, so I've made a huge effort and sat down in front of a computer to write a nice slice of blog.

 Apart from being wrapped up in my day job, I've been busy making customer orders, so much so that I had to restock red white and blue sequins because of the Queen's jubilee and the rash of shows it inspired.Of course there's still the olympics to look forward to and I'm able to make other national flags as well! We won't mention the football, though!

 I made these white and red heart tassels for the lovely Delilah Dufoe to do her "Bad Medicine"act. It was a rush job due to her having lost the originals... I just wish I could have been there. It always makes me proud to see my products in action, I can't quite seem to get over it!

 I started experimenting with different materials as well. These pasties are made from acetate covered in lace and crystals. Yes, they look see thru here, but once they are stuck on, there is no show-through as there is no light behind them. I've also made some with no lace, but the centre is obscured by a layer of glitter and crystals which dissipate toward the edges.

 Below you can see another experiment with different materials. I've used fun foam as I like the colours. Its also light, flexible and non fraying. These are my "Boy meets Girl" pasties. You can have them facing each other or back to back - heartache or romance? you decide!  Hehehe.... the glue isn't even dry on these, but don't worry, it does dry CLEAR!Other silhouettes are in my secret sketchbook of designs...

 These are made from foam too. Tiger stripes in sequins and glitter with a tattoo style scroll. grrrrrrr!!!

Actually, I have a bit of an ulterior motive, taking up the blog again. Just while my website is down. I'm hoping to get enough time to get it up and running again!

Here's a cheeky pic of me performing at Secret Fridae back in April....something else I am trying to get up and running again. It's always difficult to devote enough time to practising and costuming when I am so busy with my job.....I'll be treading the boards again in august so look out for me!

Picture credit: Robin Lowe of Burning ambition photography

 A few more pictures of recent designs. Foam kisses, an "odd pair" and below, sequinned yin/yang symbols also with a foam base.

Oh! and here are those CLEAR pasties I told you about earlier! They are not completely see through as the centre is painted with glitter. Bit more daring though......I got a buyer for this pair almost straight away.

I also think it's a good idea to tell you how you can see more of my designs and even contact me to order while my websites down.....

www.facebook.com/helenebachburlesquestyle

That is my page where you can see my designs, leave comments and questions, or ask about ordering. Custom orders welcome if you have an idea, just ask me.I keep my prices reasonable so why not take a look?

THE VELVET BURLESQUE

My friend Lara Gothique is promoting these wonderful shows, so I heartily recommend you go along and see how burlesque should be done! They are very classy shows, entertaining from start to finish with accomplished performers who will absolutely dazzle you!
Here is a link to the website for THE VELVET BURLESQUE:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.velvetburlesque.co.uk%2Fid5.htm&h=dAQHCsr-8

http://www.velvetburlesque.co.uk/

Picture of the gorgeously gothic Lara Gothique performing at The Velvet Burlesque Hallowe'en Horror Cabaret show in Oct 2010

Another year over, and what have you done?

It's that time of year when I always start evaluating what I've achieved this year... some things are a bit disappointing, yet others I am extremely happy about! For example, this year I have done no burlesque performing whatsoever. This disappoints me. BUT what I have achieved is the set up of my fitness business, Miss B's Fitness. After all, you can only do so much in a given time. I found I was getting overtired with extra activities, being charitable and helping others out, so I've had to downsize these activities for the sake of my health and business - which I hope to grow during the next year.
During 2012, I hope to be back with a bang on the local burlesque scene. It's been far too long since my last appearance at THE PUBLIC. However I have been making your pasties and tassels in the spare time I DO have.... and one thing that has deighted me this year is that my products have sold quite well in both Burlesque Salon, Birmingham and Lady K's, Bedford. It was quite exciting to find that people liked my products enough to buy them, I don't think I'll ever lose that feeling. I am so fortunate to be doing work which I enjoy, all I need to do now is grow both my businesses to a point where I can say I am financially successful. I don't even want to be rich...... just to make a nice living would be satisfactory.
And I guess thats my christmas wish. Thanks to everyone who has bought my products, visited my website, liked my pages, or read this blog.
Bring on 2012.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all xxx      (photo courtesy of Lady K's)

Useful links:

My website: http://www.helenebachburlesquestyle.co.uk/

Like my facebook page: www.facebook.com/helenebachburlesquestyle

also: www.facebook.com/missbsfitness

Tweet me up on TWITTER: @MissHeleneBach

Myspace: www.myspace.com/textilesbytheresa

(check out my early designs and my MA textiles show)

Out shopping for Burlesque Bits and Bobs!

I have promised a shopping blog post for a while now, and although I'm always short of time, here's some photos of some stuff I saw that I'd love to have in my house. Spotted in various shops in Bridgnorth, Shropshire.

I spotted this lovely furniture in The Old Mill Antiques Centre and thought it would be perfect for a burlesque bedroom like my spare room I am creating at the moment. My decorating is done, but this small scale furniture would fit perfectly into a small modern house. I love the craquelure finish and the leopard print tall boy!

Then I saw this lovely lamp, but it gave me the idea for customising one that I've already got in my spare room. There are lots of lovely things in this shop and I'd recommend a look round if you are ever in Bridgnorth.

Another shop we visited was called "Gin and Teacups" now this sounds a bit mad, but there were some great things in there which would make great props, modern and vintage mixed really.

Next time I will show you some more lovely stuff that I wish I could afford, as I've spotted some lovely SHOES!!!!!
Short, but sweet xxxx