When I was doing my undergraduate degree I used to go to burlesque shows quite often. Recently the company who used to perform in my town is taking a break from performing so I haven't been able to go to a show for ages. All is not lost though - through the magic of Youtube I have discovered 'boylesque', burlesque as performed by male dancers. I really enjoy burlesque as a form of entertainment and although I have never seen any male dancers perform at any of the shows I have been to, it looks like something I could really appreciate! What do you think?




There are also a couple more that I wanted to share but I couldn't get the videos to embed no matter how hard I tried. First there is this one. The sound isn't great on the video but the routine is excellent! And the second is one which I really enjoyed. I'm a huge fan of Steampunk fashion and also of Abney Park so this performance was perfect for me!

One thing I really like about boylesque versus burlesque with female dancers is that the boys seem to have more scope to do comedy or quirky routines. Don't get me wrong - I have seen some great comedy routines done by female dancers and if you like your men in high heels and a corset (goodness me!) then you can find that as well, but a lot of the boylesque routines I found myself enjoying the most were the more cheeky and funny ones rather than the ones that were designed to be sexy without the comedy aspect.

So ladies, does a bit of boylesque tickle your fancy?

Last week, mum and I put together a Christmas tea cosy out of oddments of wool. Mum knitted the tea cosy from this pattern, and I made the decorations using this pattern. It took us a very short amount of time to make - we pretty much finished it together over lunch one afternoon. In our family we are pretty serious tea drinkers so a nice tea cosy is a lovely thing to have. For anyone who is not a serious tea drinker (or a tea drinker at all), making tea in a teapot always makes better tea. Remember to warm the teapot first with some freshly boiled water then re-boil the water to pour straight into the teapot with the teabags. Leave to steep for around 5 minutes and pop on your cute tea cosy to help keep the tea hot.

This weekend I popped over to Melton Mobray for the Christmas Tree Festival and Victorian market with my mum and dad. The stalls on the market aren't necessarily Victorian in an of themselves, but many of the market traders dress up for the occasion. I went last year as well, and this is my parents' third year of visiting. It makes a lovely day out as it's a bit different every year, and I've discovered it makes a nice introduction to the Christmas period as well as a bit of a break from all the uni work I've been bombarded with that's due in during the next couple of weeks. As well as enjoying the market and Christmas trees, we also went to the museum for a little look around and I had enormous fun playing with an old telephone kiosk.