All Tease All Shade at Edmonton Fringe Festival

I had the pleasure of costuming four of the performers at All Tease All Shade: Sloppy Seconds at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival.

The producer Beau Creep has been running this queer rotating cast themed show for about 10 years and this show has been one that’s very close to my heart. When I was more involved with local burlesque I would dress up with the crew and occasionally even stage kitten the show. It’s been an important outlet for local queer performance arts and it’s just amazing to see it thrive.

We had some fun rhinestoning and prep nights at my studio with the entire cast to get ready for the run. This is the second year this production has been brought to Edmonton Fringe Festival and it was clear that the performers challenged themselves to level up their acts.

I wanted to first and foremost thank Brendan Roy Photography for the following photos in this post- what a gift to have after a few months of pure hustle to get this show together!

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This is Beau Creep in their new costume for their act to Rufus Wainwright’s “Zing! Went the Strings of my Heart”. They wanted something classic but over the top and absolutely queer af. The costume highlights are all the amazing textures I was able to put together and developing the very specific character Beau was dreaming up. We got them to a 24” cincher, custom made with interesting style lines and I added black eyelash lace with metallic gold to mimick patina. I feel like this is a new era of Beau’s burlesque style and I’m so happy I was able to pull off a costume style that reflects that.

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Next is a costume I’ve been chipping away for the last several months for Stella Darling. Stella made my new logos and graphics to trade for costuming- a perfect match since our styles are so similar. We wanted high glamour showgirl with classic polkadot and bow motifs. What a dream! Highlights are the hand pleated detailing on the corset and gradient black-to-pink tulle. It’s one of the kinds of costumes that if you look up close you’ll find so many small sweet details. She’s worked so hard getting the act together and my heart grew three sizes seeing its debut.

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I was so excited when Ladonna Stone contacted me to do this costume for her- she’s been a wishlist client for a long time. I’ve always envisioned doing something gold and with one of my bullet bras for her. She presented me with and idea of a gold chained showgirl to the Cher song “Prisoner” and I couldn’t believe the vision was going to come true! We had a lot of fun getting the pieces together and figuring out the rhinestone patterns- we really put her rhinestoning skills on overdrive! Completely worth it because she came out just GLISTENING!

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Lastly, J*** Elle in her Patent Vinyl costume. This one is not new to this show- it was a set I made for her production “Cumchella”. It was the first costume I made her and the act was instantly one of my favourite local drag acts ever and it was a great challenge to make something that matched J*** Elle’s ferocious attitude on stage. It was exciting to hear that it got picked up for this Fringe show. Highlights are the teenie waist the cincher gives and the silver spike details. J*** Elle and I have a new costume design brewing up for the Fall!

I wanted to give a shout to the rest of the cast.

Callmekeeks is one of my best burlesque pals. She helped get me through these months of costume production and it was fun to watch her put together the details of her costume for her Break These Chains angel/demon act. We keep each other surviving in ebb and flow of artist life with the best convos and endless laughs. Excited for the day we finally get to put together our dream costume!

Rae Ricochet is someone I’ve gotten to know more of during this Fringe run. It’s been so cool to see their dive into sideshow clowning. I was so impressed by their work on their blue and green vinyl costume- every detail was so perfect. It was so sweet that they were also the first beaming face that showed up to my Open Studio.

and Jay Flair- such an incredible person I’ve also gotten to know more of this year. She brings so much joy every time I see her, especially when she graciously shares a new magic trick she’s been working on. She performed at my wedding and has a really sweet friendship with my mother who alters a lot of her magic costumes. The act she presents in this fringe run is pure fun and chaos and is not to be missed!!

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This production is a great example of the diverse and wildly talented performers in our city. I heard about some of the exciting future projects in the works and they are not to be missed! Make sure to add their instagram page to keep updated!

Open Studio!

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On August 19-24th (1-5pm daily) we are having our first open studio in our new space!

We are open in conjunction with the Edmonton Fringe Festival shows we costumed, House of Hush: Golden Grind and All Tease All Shade: Sloppy Seconds.

We moved into this new space February of this year and have worked on hard on setting up the showroom part of the studio in anticipation of being able to open to the public one day. There’s still a long way to go because we are a really small operation but come visit during this first open studio and celebrate this small milestone.

We will have a run of corset samples available for people to try on and order corsets on site. There will also be Sweet Carousel t-shirts, tote bags, upcycled scrunchies, and a small selection of locally made goods by Glow Beauty (custom press on nails), and Bang Bang Bijoux (unique jewelry made with vintage parts). We also have burlesque nipple pasties available from Sugar Vixen (Montreal), Kitty Kinevil (Ottawa), and Canova Studio (New York).

Come on by! Google Maps

The studio is also open by appointment early and late each day, contact us to make a private appointment.

We got married!

After 9 beautiful years together, my partner Victor and I got married on April 6, 2024. The wedding was a dream come true.

I’ve been playing with the idea of starting a blog on this website and the wedding gives me a perfect excuse to do so! I wanted to share the wonderful photos we got from the photographer Marcu Photography and processes of making my gowns.

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We were playing with the idea of keeping it small and eloping. But the more we thought about it, we decided that after almost a decade of producing burlesque events- followed by the isolating years of COVID- it would be meaningful to use my event planning skills and connections to plan a fun wedding; it would mean that much more to be able to bring together our friends and family to celebrate our nuptials.

Wedding Dress

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I first considered purchasing my gowns off the rack to save myself any grief. But of course, as I thought about all the details I would love in my dress, it became apparent that they would be hard to find off-rack. With a sigh, I knew there wasn’t any other option but to make them all myself. At least I already made myself a perfected corset pattern! Settling with the idea, I decided to make as many steps in this gown-making venture as meaningful as I could. I promptly booked a trip to Montreal and New York City to look for my perfect fabric.

My dream wedding dress is a Vivienne Westwood style a-line with a draped silhouette of a crisp taffeta-like fabric. I am not big on lace or sparkle on myself, but I decided to add a polka-dot overlay because my partner Victor adores when I wear polka-dot. In terms of colour, I loved dove grey-toned wedding gowns- and how pretty would a white polka-dot overlay be over a very light grey? I knew the best place to get my fabric was Mood Fabric in Manhattan. After about 6 hours looking through the wedding-whites section, I decided to get this crisp silk/viscose fabric with a metallic sheen. I bought 10 yards of it and held my breath at the cash desk - the total for this fabric could have been the price of a new dress itself! I felt like this made the marriage a lot more real.

I decided to go with a draped asymmetrical corset top style with a full pleated circle skirt with a train. After I finished the dress, I was left with only 0.2 yards left. I’m very good at stressing myself out with how well I can estimate fabric amounts for a project! Photos of some progress, and some gems with my mother and my assistant Zyryll and maid of honor helping me drape my sleeves:

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I wanted a long veil with bows down the back. One of my first fashion inspirations since I was a child was Princess Angelica from children’s novel The Rose and the Ring by William Makepeace Thackeray. On one of the first pages there is this drawing of her with ribbon bows through her hair. I used this gorgeous veiling from my favorite fabric shop in Montreal and added 9 bows made with the same polka-dot; one for each year Victor and I have been together. My mother made the veil for me and my assistant Zyryll made the bows.

My fashion school teacher and old studio neighbour Bridget Smatlan made my garter with scraps from the wedding dress. This was really great as I made her garter for her wedding many years ago. My good friend Kaneesha’s partner Dylan caught it, and is now a perfect costume piece as she is a clown and the garter makes a perfect ruff! Cute!

The Cheongsam

It was important to me to incorporate my heritage through the wedding. I designed the Cheongsam (the traditional Chinese mandarin collar dress) to have a pink scalloped corset and skirt with a red eyelash lace overlay. There is a mandarin collar and flutter sleeves for comfort. I also added long red tassels that come off my shoulders. My younger brother Judah sewed the covered buttons down the front of the dress. My good friend Beau gave me a matching red ostrich boa that we cut and pinned into my hair to complete the look.

One wish I’ve always had was to make my cheongsam and have performers in my local community gather to help me rhinestone it. A bit of a full circle moment when I’ve made costumes for them. I had a total of 16 community members over 3 weeks come in the evenings for fun chats and bonding. It took almost 70 hours of rhinestoning and 20,000 rhinestones to cover the dress. As a first-generation Canadian Chinese women, I often have a hard time connecting with my heritage. The fact that I was able to have my beautiful community be part made the process of making this traditional dress that much more important to me. Thank you Justin, Beau Creep, Drew, Stretcher Hymen, Judah, CallmeKeeks, Abigail LeVay, Vira Von Velvet, Fanny LuPhine, J*** Elle, Onika Xtravaganza, Violette Coquette, Audra Dacity, Stella Darling, Evangeline Cachet and Zyryll ♥︎

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The Ceremony

We did a civil ceremony, officiated by my long time friend Nic. They wrote a beautiful ceremony that started with a very thoughtful land acknowledgement. Victor wore a dark purple velvet suit jacket and the groomsmen had bowties to match. I knew it was the right decision to make my own dresses, as I can see how proud everyone was of me and they finally seen what I worked so hard on for months as I walked down the aisle. My maid of honor Natalia made her own dress- we have always bonded over hand-sewing and creating together. I also made my bridesmaid Lilly’s dress as we had a hard time finding a dress for her. A pinky-lavender column dress with bows at the shoulders. Thankfully we found a dress for Rebekka and her daughter Elle Freya who was the flower girl. There was no way I could have made any more dresses! My brothers capped off the wedding party.

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The Tea Ceremony

During the last half of cocktail hour, we had a Chinese tea ceremony. A tea ceremony is a Chinese tradition wherein the bride and groom serve tea to their respective families, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other esteemed elders. The couple receives well wishes and gifts, and its an act of welcoming either the bride or the room, thereby unifying both families.

Again it was really amazing to wear my cheongsam that me and my community worked so hard on. To offer tea to my elders wearing it felt so powerful. Victor got to wear a mens cheongsam that my mother gave to him. My family is a matriarchy of very fierce and strong women, it was the first time all the women were together with me. It was also so great to have important members of Victors family experience this tradition.

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The Reception

The reception had to be a exciting soiree full of entertainment. Our good friend Letabby Lexington MCed the evening. To start, we were introduced as a married couple entering the room by Chinese lion dancers doing a 10 minute performance. As a burlesque costume designer, it was a no-brainer that I had to have a cabaret portion. The cabaret started with Jay Flair, an incredible magician. Followed by Onika Xtravaganza one of my favourite drag performers who did an amazing act to “Is that Alright” by Lady Gaga. One of my best friends Beau Creep did an act to Rufus Wainwright, a gorgeous act that showed my family queer excellence. And to cap it off, an award winning number by Violette Coquette, a long time muse who did her roses act that ends with a rose skirt that fans out around her. I realized it was the first time a lot of both our families seen the work I do in action and they were absolutely delighted. It was just the most beautiful day full of memories.

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Wedding Vendor credits

The wedding ran itself because of all the professional help. It was a pleasure working with all our vendors and I highly recommend them all! Because of them we had the most beautiful day and was able to focus on what mattered most.

Venue: Studio 96
Florals: Florans
Wedding Cake: Wildrose Cakes
Catering: A Cappella Catering
Photography: Marcu Fotography
Music: DJ Kena Leon
Lion Dancer Team: Jingying Arts
Grooms party hair and prep: The Refuge
Brides hair: Kerri Randolph
Brides Nails: Glow Beauty

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