Author: missdollymonroe

Dolly Monroe is a passionate creator of pinup photography and burlesque performance art with a flair for all things vintage! Dolly strives to challenge outdated beauty standards through the promotion of body diversity in her art. Her greatest joy is inspiring others to love and embrace their bodies by celebrating her own!

Gatsby Garden Party

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On Sunday I attended a 1920’s Gatsby themed garden party at Spadina House in Toronto with the lovely Leelando Calrissian!  We had a fabulous time getting all dolled up in our 1920s attire and lounging on the beautiful lawn behind the historical mansion.  There were more amazing outfits than you could imagine, some real 1920s vintage, others simply inspired or reproduction.  The women were decked out in lace, pearls, bias-cut frocks, cloche hats, beaded bags, with many gorgeous parasols scattered throughout the crowd.  The men adorned themselves with boater hats, suspenders, linen suits, sock garters, spats with many pocket watches on fobs.  Live bands roared with jazz on the main stage and small groups played the ukulele at the garage stage.  The main event was the fashion parade and costume contest with prizes from Malabar, Aviv restaurant and the Rose Emporium.  Leelando and I were very jealous of the grand prize winner who will be receiving 2 dozen fresh cut roses every month for the next year for winning!  Please enjoy my photos from the Gatsby Garden Party!

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Leeland looking regal at Spadina House
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Gorgeous Gatsby Gals!

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Croquet anyone?
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Authentic 1920s gown!
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These ladies were simply divine and playing a round of badminton!
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The swinging band!
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This chap had an amazing pair of sock garters!
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Yep, we ordered a pizza.
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Fashion parade!
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More fashion paraders
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Slacks on a woman? How modern!
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Costume Contest winners!

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Sam’s Style: Part 2

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Today I bring you part 2 of Sam’s Style, featuring dresses custom made for my beautiful friend Sam by her personal designer; me! Part 1

Phineas and Ferb
While out fabric shopping together Sam spotted this amazing cartoon printed fabric with characters from the show Phineas and Ferb and instantly fell in love with it.  We decided it would be the perfect print for a new summer dress!  The colours in this fabric are fantastic and the comic book window style with graphic text and action posed characters bring so much life to it.  Because of the loud fabric we kept the design simple on this one.  Just a plain black sash with bow at the back and a short t-shirt sleeve.  Sam looks stunning in this creation!

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Romantic Red
This red dress was the first one I created for Sam.  We began with the trim fabric, which is a delectable blackberry print, and then matched the red highlight in the print with a red fabric for the main body of the dress.  I love the way the rich red and the purple blackberries balance each other.  The cuffs on the sleeves have a little wing with a button that matches the buttons on the bust area.  This dress also has some sweet pockets to keep your cell phone and your lipstick in!  At the hem of the dress I added a couple of blackberry hearts and matched them on the fascinator that I also made to add to this look.

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RAW Art and Fashion Show

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Last thursday I attended the RAW Art and Fashion Showcase at Revival in Toronto.  When I arrived the place was packed with a very cool crowd of artists and art connoisseurs.  Local painters, photographers, jewelry designers and makeup artists had booths set up around the venue and in the upstairs balcony showing off their work.  The main event was the fashion show featuring collections from Love, Poetry Corsets and Amplify Apparel.  I had a wonderful time taking in all the art and talent in the room and was blown away by many of the artists I met.  I was especially excited to see the Game of Thrones inspired collection from Amplify Apparel, which featured an array of outstanding sculptural jewelry and accessories, worn and weathered, handcrafted garments, modelled by some of the city’s top fire/circus performers!

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Hanging with Leelando and Bri!
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Visual Artist Anya Mielniczek http://www.anyamielniczek.com
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Visual Artist Anya Mielniczek http://www.anyamielniczek.com
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Illustration, Design and Framing Artist Yana Kolesnikova http://www.behance.net/greencamel
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Jewelry Designer Shashi Dissan http://www.shashidissan.com I loved her stuff so much I bought one of her lion rings!
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Artist Chris Colon http://www.chriscolonoriginals.com
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Body Painter Aaron Knox http://www.modelmayhem.com/AaronKnox
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Getting ready backstage
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Designer Allie Wood getting ready for the show!
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Corsets from Love, Poetry Corsets http://www.lovepoetrycorsets.com
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Corsets from Love, Poetry Corsets http://www.lovepoetrycorsets.com
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Corsets from Love, Poetry Corsets http://www.lovepoetrycorsets.com
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Corsets from Love, Poetry Corsets http://www.lovepoetrycorsets.com
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Corsets from Love, Poetry Corsets http://www.lovepoetrycorsets.com
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3D Body Painting by Aaron Knox http://www.modelmayhem.com/AaronKnox
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Amplify Apparel’s Game of Thrones inspired collection http://www.facebook.com/AmplifyApparel
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Allie Wood: Designer for Amplify Apparel

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Sam’s Style: Part 1

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My super cute, super stylish friend Sam commissioned me to make her a series of dresses over the past year or so that encapsulate her fun, colourful style!  Each of these whimsical creations is created from the same base pattern, with slight alterations to each, and the choice of colour, pattern and print in the fabric is what really gives each dress it’s own unique feel.  Recently Sam and I adventured to a local park to snap some pinup shots of Sam in her very own line of dresses.  Today I will share 2 of the styles I created!

Banana-Rama
The Banana dress might be my favourite of the set.  The contrasting banana and blueberry fabrics are so fun, fruity and look good enough to eat!  This dress has a peter pan collar and long bow in the back.  We did a bit of a longer sleeve on this dress with the lovely blueberry fabric again as a cuff.  Sam is a knockout pinup queen in the dress!

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Button-Up
The Button dress was commissioned by our friend Rena for Sam’s birthday.  She found this amazing button fabric and let me run wild with it.  For the design of this dress I kept it a little more simple, no collar or tie, but the fun detail is the real buttons I sewed to the front of the dress.  They blend in so well that they are a fun little surprise when you see them up close!

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Late Night Toon Tease

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I had a blast this past saturday at the Peepshow TO Late Night Toon Tease Nerdlesque show!!  Performers stripped as their favourite adult cartoon characters such as Leela from Futurama, Jane Lane from Daria, Gimpy from Undergrads, Molotov Cocktease from Venture Brothers and so many more.  The show was amazing, with so many creative costumes, acts and song choices.  The stage, which was set with old school televisions, created such a lovely atmosphere to witness these cartoon characters coming to life.  Congrats to Peepshow TO on another wonderful show!

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Betty Quirk as Leela/Cloberella from Futurama
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Delyla Hotdamn as Dale Gribble from King of the Hill
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Maria Juana as Bender/Coilette from Futurama
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Tits Ahoy as Mastershake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force
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Leelando Calrissian as Dr. Girlfriend from Venture Brothers
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Loretta Jean as Jane Lane from Daria
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Dr Tease as Sterling Archer from Archer
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Peepshow Fan Ajay Fry getting a birthday lap dance from Betty Quirk and Maria Juana
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Delicia Pastiche as Cheryl/Cherlene from Archer
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Sevvy Skellington as Gimpy from Undergrads
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Ginger Rigby & Helon of Tronna as Joan and Cleo from Clone High
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K.K Darko as Dr. Rockso from Metalocalypse
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Zilly Lilly as Molotov Cocktease from Venture Brothers
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Sky Blew as Xandir from Drawn Together
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Me with Abe from Clone High

Inspiration: Dirty Martini

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When it comes to curvy burlesque beauties Dirty Martini takes the cake!  

Based in NYC, this burlesque performer/pinup model/dance instructor’s style of performance is a combination of classic glamour and raunchy humour.  She holds the title of The Reigning Queen of Burlesque – Miss Exotic World 2004, first runner up to Miss Exotic World in 2003 and best fan dance at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2002.  She was featured in the John Cameron Mitchell film “Shortbus” and the Scissor Sister’s video for the song “FIlthy/Gorgeous”.  Dirty Martini is truly a wonderful representation of the curvy girl body-type in burlesque.  She has curves for days and proudly shows her figure in the most glamourous burlesque costumes and routines.  Dirty Martini is such an inspiration to me as a big girl in burlesque and she really proves it that beauty has no size!

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Dolly’s Bettie Page Striptease: Part 4

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This is the final set from my Bettie Page inspired Striptease photo shoot that I will be posting on this blog.  The last few images. which feature a helpless Dolly in bondage, have been deemed too racy to post here but fear not!  If You Fall Photography and Classically Curvy are currently working on a gallery show of the full Bettie Page set!  Stay tuned for more info and for now please enjoy these final shots!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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Photos by If You Fall Photography

Meryle Trouble’s Psychedelic Floral Dress

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I love making outfits for Meryle Trouble because she always has such wonderfully creative ideas!  About a year ago Meryle came to me with the psychedelic 60s floral fabric and let me run wild with it.  The result was this fabulous, fun dress!  I love the way this look turned out and Meryle is totally rocking it!

Photo by Who Do You Love Photography

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Mermaid Tattoo by Suspiria

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After 3 sittings and 10 hours my beautiful mermaid tattoo from Suspiria is finally complete!  It was a long process but totally worth it.  I am so happy with how it turned out and I love looking down at my leg and seeing my beautiful mermaid.  This tattoo for me symbolizes where I am at this moment.  I am going through a lot of changes in my life right now and beginning a new chapter and I love that this gorgeous creation is the marker of that change for me.  I thought I would share some start-to-finish photos of the process of getting this tattoo.  We made a lot of subtle changes between the original sketch and the final completed tat and it has been really fun watching it grow and change.  I cannot thank the amazing Suspiria enough for gracing me with this beauty.

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Late Night Toon Tease with Peepshow TO

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Peepshow TO is back at it on June 14th for Late Night Toon Tease: Burlesque inspired by Adult Cartoons!!  If you love shows like Futurama, Archer, Venture Brothers, Daria, Clone High and the likes you will not want to miss this event.  In Toronto at the Randolph Theatre, doors at 8pm.  I will be back-up dancing for the legendary Charlie Quinn.  

Tickets are selling out fast!! Get yours by clicking the posters below!!

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