Pin-Ups, Tattoos and Rock N' Roll: The Suicide Girls and "The Most Dangerous Burlesque Show Invades Seattle

Boheme Verite Magazine
Seattle Editor
From Nov. 2006

"Tattoos are f***in' Ubiquitous, like you have to have one even before you come here (to Seattle)." A bartender with tattoo-adorned arms, told me as I sat looking seamlessly adoringly at his intertwined artwork. This was made even more obvious to me later in the evening as I stood waiting patiently outside Nuemos on the 18th of September as the infamous Suicide Girls brought their "Most Dangerous Burlesque Show in the World" to the Emerald City. With a line outside already forming around the block of the darkened, nearly bare looking bar and concert venue, I could not help but wonder what was in store.

What makes the Suicide Girls unique, beyond their obvious beauty and burlesque show, is the fact that, according to Missy Suicide, the creator and founder who started photographing, back in 2001 as an art project, the girls that she knew whom were part of the tattooed, punk rock, pierced and Goth community, "My photography wouldn't feature the impossibly perfect bodies of the blonde bombshells of soap operas and the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog. If I was going to present images of female beauty, it would be my personal vision of femininity. These girls, I thought, could be the next Pin-Up girls."
Already feeling awkward about going to see the show by myself and standing in line surrounded by couples and their friends, my anxiety quickly subsided as the line began to move and we all filed into the venue. Having never been to Neumos before I quickly got my drink and, like Farmer Ted and his cronies in Sixteen Candles, I leaned back against a wall and watched as others began to make their way into the bar and onto the concert floor eagerly awaiting the arrival of these scantly clad tattooed beauties. An hour after the doors had opened action ensued as Rocket, an all-girl glam/pop-punk band from Los Angeles, whose members ironically all have the same "Rocket" surname just like the "Suicide" Girls, began to entice the crowd; which had already filled up with, to my surprise, a different variety of people but with one common interest… topless tattooed women. Yes, I must say watching beautiful women dance around topless is always fun, but as the Suicide Girls made their way onto the stage, and with only enough room for my eyes to peek through the sardine can-filled crowd, the most attractive part of the show for me was trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the tattoos that each girl was sporting and admiring their personal permanent artwork. That is what makes these girls standout; their tattoos I feel are what makes them even more attractive. Amina Munster, a Suicide Girl and tattooed model, who recently was featured in Savage, a tattoo magazine, I believe stated it perfectly, "I always thought that tattoos on female skin only enhanced their beauty." I am beginning to feel the same way.

That is what drew me to Missy Suicide's photographs and ultimately why I was interested in seeing the show. The artistic way that she and the other photographers present the girls and their tattoo-adorned bodies in such a seamless Pin-Up style way, and within their own varied personalities , in many ways takes a back seat to the fact that they are nude and presents them in a way that displays each girl's own individuality. Having tattoos myself, I have found that my mindset has changed in a way with regards to how I view female beauty. They have demonstrated that girls of any size, stature and lifestyle can rock out with their tattoos out and still look beautiful.

(Published in Boheme Verite Magazine Issue 6; Nov., 2006)