Dames Aflame costume designer Stephanie Ludwig (Left) and director Shannon Newton (Right)
photo by Jimiflix

Interview with Dames Director Shannon Newton Plus Photos and Video

My friend, who agreed to speak with me about burlesque on terms of anonymity, recently came back from Atlanta with stars in his eyes and a newfound passion for the South.  None of us really got it until he told us about the Dames Aflame burlesque show that he had caught during his travels:

"You know I think New York women are hot.  And New York burlesque dancers are really hot, just not, well... beauty queen hot.  The Dames Aflame dancers are beauty queen hot.  All of them.  They appeal to men in the way that strippers do.  Which is why, in New York, you go to see naked women at a strip club if you're a man.  In Atlanta, you can go to a strip club — or you can go see a Dames Aflame show."

I  was curious and so I contacted Shannon Newton, who runs the Dames Aflame Dancers in Atlanta.  In a phone interview that felt more like a backstage pass, I got her to give me the inside scoop on why even mega-corporations think that her show is a stand-out.

If there's more to life than having ten dogs and designing retro bathing suits, Sheila Frank doesn't know what it is.

When I came across Sheila Frank, I immediately took notice of her retro bathing suits. These suits would look right at home on Betty Page (or if you're young and hip like that, let's say Katy Perry), but her other looks are thoroughly contemporary. They are simple, unique and elegant. We here at Chick tee dot com love the fact that her looks aren't just designed for barbie dolls, either: most of them will fit women of various body-types equally well, so you don't have to look like a model to, well, look like a model.

Sheila Frank's World

After trying to pose Sheila Frank (above, right) with makeup artist Sam Lennon (above, left) and their model (above, center, and below), Sheila just chilled out with them and had a laugh.

I visited with Sheila recently when she was in New York for a photoshoot. Crammed into a tiny bed-stuy appartment converted for use as a photo-studio, Sheila had assembled some amazing tallent. Interacting like seasoned pros, I was surprised that they had all met online and that they were all working for free in exchange for the right to use the photos in their portfolio. Sheila, on the other hand, hardly had to do anything, and when I asked her to stand next to the makeup artist and model for a picture she got uncomfotable and didn't know what to do -- it wasn't her place to be tinkering with makeup and so on. Eventually they just chatted and teased each other. Sheila said that on some occasions she would have the work sent away and not even gone to the shoot herself.