Showtime at Trixie's Burlesque Boutique
Trix and Mortar
Trixie Minx and Emily Conelly show off Trixie's Burlesque Boutique
The pandemic spawned many projects as folks tried to work around the restrictions. We saw especially creative enterprises from our local performer community, the Peep Show at AllWays Lounge being one of the best loved.
The dynamic duo of Trixie Minx and Emily Conelly also had big ideas, one of which you can now visit, in the form of Trixie’s Burlesque Boutique on Chartres Street in the historic French Quarter. I met them both at the shop - now just over a year old - on a punishingly hot June afternoon.
“This is a passion project that started during the pandemic,” says Trixie. “We’d talked about maybe opening a venue one day and all kinds of things, but when everything stopped, we kept trying to come up with ways to get money to performers - virtual shows, a telegram delivery service - we were throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.”
“As we came out of the woods, we thought, what if do a studio that also has a store?” adds Emily. “That way we can at least get people teaching classes and getting paid. We signed a lease in February of 2022, when all the restrictions started to lift. After Mardi Gras, things happened fast - we had to stock the store real quick and it took us to April to properly open.”
The boutique is a burlesque treasure trove, with much of the inventory made by local performers and artisans. Take a cursory look around and you’ll find colorful jewelry, cosmetics, magnets, pasties (which are among the store’s best sellers), fake eyelashes, coasters and coozies, flasks, tote bags, t-shirts and ‘manties’, custom made and printed locally. Add to this some elegant robes by Qween Quan, gloriously glam headpieces, and costumes that have been retired by their owners, but which can hopefully go on to lead other lives. Even the shop logo was designed locally.
The business plan is refreshingly simple - all merchandise is bought in bulk and paid for up front (i.e. no consignment), and so everyone has their money right away. It’s been challenging, but incredibly rewarding. “There’s a whole surprise other level of operating in terms of regulations when you have bricks and mortar in the French Quarter,” says Emily, with a knowing smile.
There’s also a dance studio. “The store element is fun,” says Trixie, “But the dancing is where we’re really happy and it’s what we hope really sells. We put on community classes every other Monday, and we go out of our way to hire multiple instructors and make sure that it’s not the Trixie Minx show. There’s a different performer that gets to teach every month.”
On Tuesdays, the boutique offers different workshops, (in August, this will be a course in boylesque). “They’re a full courses, “ says Trixie, They’re taking you from your level to performing via technique, costuming, and the history of burlesque. It culminates in a student showcase at AllWays Lounge.”
The boutique also offers private group classes for birthdays, bachelorettes, or just for the fun of it. “Maybe people want to try things even if they don’t want to be a dancer,” says Emily, before telling me about a couple that booked private class just so the wife could try burlesque in front of her husband in a safe, supportive atmosphere.
I ask who comes into the store. “Our clientele are all over the map,” says Trixie. “We get locals coming in for Mardi Gras jewelry, or people looking for accessories for a themed costume, and lots of dancers from out of town. They come by just to see us, and it’s cool to have that support from outside of New Orleans. Even some people who have never heard of burlesque before and are just curious.”
“One of our good sellers is an emergency burlesque kit, with glue, scissors, etc,” says Emily. “We get people running in on the way to gigs saying, ‘I hear you guys have shoe glue!’ We recently had a performer from a small town passing through and she was going on a cruise with her family and she’d heard about us and she couldn’t get things in her home town and we were happy to say, ‘We’ve got you’.”
“We also get folk who are really into the concept whether they perform or not,” says Trxie. “People who don’t have access to the burlesque world, which is why we also sell books with lots more information.”
“We also get people who have seen Trixie on the internet and want to meet her,” adds Emily.
Trixie brings the showgirl and performance flair, while Emily previously worked at Preservation Hall previously, expanding the merch line there, and so brings that valuable experience. As a duo, they appear sensitive to the needs of the community and make an impressive team. The workshops especially help build that community.
“Burlesque isn’t a solo art, says Trixie. ”You might be solo on stage, but you have your sound and lights person, your tech crew, or you might perform with live musicians, and people help you with costumes, or choreography, plus all the people who have influenced your act. You don’t have to be an army of one in this.”
“Some people might come out of these classes not waiting to be a performer, but we’re also building more educated audience members,” says Emily.
“One of our students didn’t know you could sing as part of burlesque,” says Trixie. “We showed her it was possible, and now she has her own monthly gig. The majority of people don’t know that burlesque is a whole spectrum, and you can really do anything with it.”
I leave as Trixie and Emily start to expand on their plans for Dirty Linen night in August and talk about upcoming shows. With such creative, intentional minds at the helm here, it feels like the show is just beginning. (PO)
Trixie's Burlesque Boutique website
Trixie Minx and Emily Conelly show off Trixie's Burlesque Boutique
The pandemic spawned many projects as folks tried to work around the restrictions. We saw especially creative enterprises from our local performer community, the Peep Show at AllWays Lounge being one of the best loved.
The dynamic duo of Trixie Minx and Emily Conelly also had big ideas, one of which you can now visit, in the form of Trixie’s Burlesque Boutique on Chartres Street in the historic French Quarter. I met them both at the shop - now just over a year old - on a punishingly hot June afternoon.
“This is a passion project that started during the pandemic,” says Trixie. “We’d talked about maybe opening a venue one day and all kinds of things, but when everything stopped, we kept trying to come up with ways to get money to performers - virtual shows, a telegram delivery service - we were throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.”
“As we came out of the woods, we thought, what if do a studio that also has a store?” adds Emily. “That way we can at least get people teaching classes and getting paid. We signed a lease in February of 2022, when all the restrictions started to lift. After Mardi Gras, things happened fast - we had to stock the store real quick and it took us to April to properly open.”
The boutique is a burlesque treasure trove, with much of the inventory made by local performers and artisans. Take a cursory look around and you’ll find colorful jewelry, cosmetics, magnets, pasties (which are among the store’s best sellers), fake eyelashes, coasters and coozies, flasks, tote bags, t-shirts and ‘manties’, custom made and printed locally. Add to this some elegant robes by Qween Quan, gloriously glam headpieces, and costumes that have been retired by their owners, but which can hopefully go on to lead other lives. Even the shop logo was designed locally.
The business plan is refreshingly simple - all merchandise is bought in bulk and paid for up front (i.e. no consignment), and so everyone has their money right away. It’s been challenging, but incredibly rewarding. “There’s a whole surprise other level of operating in terms of regulations when you have bricks and mortar in the French Quarter,” says Emily, with a knowing smile.
There’s also a dance studio. “The store element is fun,” says Trixie, “But the dancing is where we’re really happy and it’s what we hope really sells. We put on community classes every other Monday, and we go out of our way to hire multiple instructors and make sure that it’s not the Trixie Minx show. There’s a different performer that gets to teach every month.”
On Tuesdays, the boutique offers different workshops, (in August, this will be a course in boylesque). “They’re a full courses, “ says Trixie, They’re taking you from your level to performing via technique, costuming, and the history of burlesque. It culminates in a student showcase at AllWays Lounge.”
The boutique also offers private group classes for birthdays, bachelorettes, or just for the fun of it. “Maybe people want to try things even if they don’t want to be a dancer,” says Emily, before telling me about a couple that booked private class just so the wife could try burlesque in front of her husband in a safe, supportive atmosphere.
I ask who comes into the store. “Our clientele are all over the map,” says Trixie. “We get locals coming in for Mardi Gras jewelry, or people looking for accessories for a themed costume, and lots of dancers from out of town. They come by just to see us, and it’s cool to have that support from outside of New Orleans. Even some people who have never heard of burlesque before and are just curious.”
“One of our good sellers is an emergency burlesque kit, with glue, scissors, etc,” says Emily. “We get people running in on the way to gigs saying, ‘I hear you guys have shoe glue!’ We recently had a performer from a small town passing through and she was going on a cruise with her family and she’d heard about us and she couldn’t get things in her home town and we were happy to say, ‘We’ve got you’.”
“We also get folk who are really into the concept whether they perform or not,” says Trxie. “People who don’t have access to the burlesque world, which is why we also sell books with lots more information.”
“We also get people who have seen Trixie on the internet and want to meet her,” adds Emily.
Trixie brings the showgirl and performance flair, while Emily previously worked at Preservation Hall previously, expanding the merch line there, and so brings that valuable experience. As a duo, they appear sensitive to the needs of the community and make an impressive team. The workshops especially help build that community.
“Burlesque isn’t a solo art, says Trixie. ”You might be solo on stage, but you have your sound and lights person, your tech crew, or you might perform with live musicians, and people help you with costumes, or choreography, plus all the people who have influenced your act. You don’t have to be an army of one in this.”
“Some people might come out of these classes not waiting to be a performer, but we’re also building more educated audience members,” says Emily.
“One of our students didn’t know you could sing as part of burlesque,” says Trixie. “We showed her it was possible, and now she has her own monthly gig. The majority of people don’t know that burlesque is a whole spectrum, and you can really do anything with it.”
I leave as Trixie and Emily start to expand on their plans for Dirty Linen night in August and talk about upcoming shows. With such creative, intentional minds at the helm here, it feels like the show is just beginning. (PO)
Trixie's Burlesque Boutique website