Tassels Swing at London's Best of Burlesque Contest

Thirty women decked out in ostrich feathers and satin corsets faced off over the last week at London's International Burlesque Festival, all hoping to be crowned best newcomer before a crowd of wolf-whistling men.

You'll see all sorts of outfits, but one thing you won't see -- full nudity. The contests end in tassels and underpants. And the contest has nothing to do with pole dancing.

"For me, burlesque isn't so much striptease because I studied fashion, it's more about making the costumes and doing something choreographed to my own music," dancer Bijou Noir, whose real name Monique Learmond, told Reuters.

Learmond performed as Marie Antoinette and disrobed to reveal an intricate petticoat. She eventually lost to another dancer, Annette Betty, who performed in an outfit inspired by World War One spy Mata Hari, who was also an erotic dancer.

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Photo © Cleo Clampert