Fabulous Femininities was a three-year research project which sought to understand the way that fabulousness and femininity is performed by burlesque club-goers via specific DIY approaches to costume. The immersive and ethnographic study focused on a range of club events and the experiences and practices of participants (performers, club-goers, costumiers etc) in order to document, understand and theorise the transformative threshold between the everyday self and the extravagant spectacle. The project was led by University of Leeds in partnership with Northumbria University, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The follow on project to Fabulous Femininities, “Self-worth as a community asset: co authoring and extending burlesque’s protected and deregulated spaces as good practice”, explored how night-time spaces are organised and regulated, particularly around the welfare, safety, and inclusion of otherwise marginalised communities. Working with three groups of burlesque and cabaret performers, producers and event attendees in Barnsley, Doncaster and Leeds, the team learnt from grass-roots approaches around inclusivity and representation in the night-time economy before then sharing these with cultural, legislative, and governmental stakeholders in the area. The project was led by the University of Leeds, and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).