Arabesque Burlesque’s Montreal Links

Enjoy these burlesque resources and dive into the world of Montreal burlesque!

 

Venues that showcase burlesque

The Wiggle Room - Canada's ONLY cabaret dedicated to burlesque! Shows Wednesday to Saturday every week

Le 4e Mur - a 1920s speakeasy cocktail bar with pop-up burlesque acts every Wednesday and Sunday night

Le Cocktail - bar in the gay village with drag and burlesque artists doing shows weekly

Café Cléopatre - one of the oldest cabaret stages in Montreal located on the 2nd floor of this venue. Unfortunately there’s no central listing for their shows but keep and eye out for productions sharing info!

Also, we sure to check out the white board in the lobby of our Arabesque studios. It is updated weekly with the shows casting our staff and students!

Vintage Shopping

Eva B / 4 blvd Saint-Laurent — Treasure hunt for basics great for altering

Kitsch n’ Swell / 3972 blvd Saint-Laurent — vintage-style clothing & jewelry

Le 63 / 63 Mont-Royal Est —Vintage garage culture, old Playboys, and fascinating items

 

Hair & Makeup

Samsara Brown — Boudoir and pin-up hair and makeup artist

Iza Strawberry — Eyelash extensions, special effects and regular makeup

Ruby Valentin - Hair & makeup.

Photographers

Marisa Parisella—Pin-Up and boudoir photography

Julie Soto - Fashion and portrait photography

 

Where to get your burlesque accessories and costumes

Glitter Crash Factory — Montreal based pastie and body cage maker who also performs and produces shows

Bimbo Operations — Montreal based burlesque performer that makes costumes pieces and pasties.

D Lovely Pasties — Montreal based pastie maker who creates truly decadent designs

Gogo Amy - US based designer that makes undergarments in many sizes!

Burluxe by DelilahBurlesque - Burluxe® Bespoke Stagewear & Ginny Doll Vintage

Daisy Cutter Burlesque - Blu83 Daisy Cutter, Burlesque & Fetish lingerie

Exes Lingerie - Festival wear, Swimwear, Polewear and Lingerie made in Montreal. Great for underwear to dance in

Blush Lingerie - lingerie with nice design and inclusive sizing made in Montreal

Props & Costumes

Marché Aux Puces St-Michel / 250 boul Cremazie Est— The city’s ultimate treasure hunt!

Imagine Le Fun / 4815 St. Laurent — Spirit gum & wig tape for attaching pasties costumes, & special effects makeup

Danz / 920 Jean-Talon Street Est — great for danse accessories including professional fishnets

Costumes Plus size

Fashion Nova - For sequin dresses, show shoes and more!

Corset Story - Corsets in many size! Good quality.

Playful promises - undergarments from the US for fuller busts.

 

Sewing Supplies

J&L Trimmings / 4275 blvd Saint-Laurent — Basics in the Plateau for reasonable prices

Ultratext / 7186 Rue St Hubert — Cheapest for all trimmings & closures. They have snap tape!

Tonitex / 9630 St Laurent Blvd — Huge fabric warehouse, the more you buy the cheaper it is per meter!

Kava / 7609 Rue St Hubert — Sewing machine accessories and cheapest thread

Beads Planete / 7348 Rue St Hubert — Rhinestones and beads in bulk

Movies about (or inspired by) Burlesque

Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story - documentary peels back the curtain to reveal the sexy sub-culture of the neo-burlesque scene in New York City.

Tournée - comedy-drama about a producer who brings an American Neo-Burlesque troupe to France, played by genuine performers Mimi Le Meaux, Kitten on the Keys, Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, Evie Lovelle and Roky Roulette.

A Wink and a Smile - inside Seattle’s Academy of Burlesque to shadow 10 ordinary women — among them, a taxidermist, a housewife and a doctor — who are learning the art of the striptease.

ZouZou - a French film released in 1934. As its star, Josephine Baker was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture.

The Blue Angel - a 1930 German tragicomedic film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich.

Otherwise, this list is a great start! Especially “Lady of Burlesque” and “Cabaret”!

Online Costuming Advice

Ecdysiast Costumer — Facebook group with tons of advice and resources for sewing. Visit the files to find documents about where to buy everything online!

Million Dollar Showgirl — Costuming tutorial videos

Sparkly Belly — Step by step belly dance costume tutorials, also good for burlesque. Optional paid online classes for more complex costume builds

Dreamtime Creations — Rhinestone seller with low prices and inexpensive shipping to Canada

 

Burlesque Podcasts

What’s the Tease - A podcast hosted by South African Burlesque producer Pillow Talk. Interviews influential personalities and contributors in the wonderful world of Burlesque, from local legends to global superstars.

The Pastie Tapes - The Q&A for the T&A, The Pastie Tapes is a podcast dedicated to burlesque origin stories. In each episode, burlesque performers & industry figures reveal their burlesque origin story, tease with tales from behind the scenes, and strip down to the naked truth of life on stage.