Lectures on Tap - Pasties & Politics: Burlesque, Bans & The Female Body

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "Pasties & Politics: Burlesque, Bans & The Female Body"

🎤 Speaker: Designer, Coleen Scott

Join us for a captivating evening as Costume Historian Coleen Scott uncovers how a century of American burlesque reveals the politics of women’s bodies. From censorship battles to nudity laws, we’ll explore how shifting cultural norms shaped what performers could show, hide, and defiantly adorn onstage.

Scott will trace how the smallest costume pieces—like the iconic pasties—twirled in step with changing ideas about morality, sexuality, and female autonomy. An example of pasties from this history will be on display, offering a rare, up-close look at the craftsmanship and symbolism behind these tiny but powerful garments.

Coleen Scott is a professional costume designer and the author of The Costumes of Burlesque (2019) and The Costumes of Hollywood (2025), both published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis. She is a tenured faculty member at Santa Rosa Junior College and heads the Costume Technology and Makeup programs.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.

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