Burlesque beauties of the 1890s: Stunning vintage photos of 'loose women in tights' who perfected the art of the tease




By modern standards, the burlesque dancers of the 1890s are barely deserve notice for their attire - tights covering their legs from foot to waist, many wore long sleeves to cover their arms and nary a spot of cleavage to be found.

But in their time, these women were positively scandalous. Their form-fitting clothes showed off the shapes of their legs and thighs. Their corsets accentuated their bosoms. And everywhere they performed men threw themselves into frenzies of erotic desire.



Vintage photos collected by Charles H. McCaghy, a professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, reveal just how different beauty was 120 years ago than it is today.



'Loose women in tights': Burlesque performers may seem tame to modern eyes. However, Victorian-era American audiences went mad with erotic desire over these shapely women wearing tights, which exposed the form of their thighs and legs

Burlesque began in the United States when Lydia Thompson brought her troupe, the British Blondes, to New York City stages in 1868.

They were independent, confident women who performed on stage and defied most of the social and cultural mores of women of the day. And they were as wildly popular as they were reviled.

Most people in 'proper' society viewed these ladies as being in the same category as common street prostitutes -- selling their bodies for sex.

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Next Revealed: The stunning $19million hoard of diamond jewels... 'I find it disturbing and bizarre': JonBenet Ramsey's father... Share this article Share But men adored them. Their acts were considered 'low brow,' but that simply made them more approachable for the common man.

It was said some men were willing to kill themselves in fits of lustful passion after seeing Ms Thompson's shows. The veracity of these stories, however, was somewhat dubious.

The secret of burlesque dancers' sexual appeal was not that they revealed skin and sensitive body parts -- like modern-day strippers. Burlesque was so scandalous because women showed off their feminine shapes.