Somewhere inside me there’s a burlesque artist wanting to make a fabulous entrance, out of a huge, tiered cake. Dressing up. Showing off. Being a big tease. What’s not to like about that? And most of all, having watched TV’s Faking It, in which a shy woman becomes a nipple-tassle shaking burlesque goddess, I think it’s a brilliant way for those of us less than confident about being naked to let rip and have fun. I’m looking into taking some lessons. But in the meantime, I was brave enough to get through the door of Oyster, the lingerie shop in Cliffe. Being a woman of ample proportions, less ample than I was, but still hardly size zero, I’d assumed their range of beautiful underwear was not for me, and financially it probably isn’t. But they sell all sorts of things for all shapes of women, and are friendly to boot. I was lured in by the sight of buttoned and tasselled long gloves, and ended up having a conversation about burlesque with Oyster’s owner, Stevie. It is not about being thin, she said, or young, or even conventionally beautiful. Burlesque artists can be older women, or seaside postcard voluptuous ones, but their confidence and command of the room means that they exude gorgeousness. And unlike lap-dancing, which seems to be about being compliant under the gaze of men, as well as sexually in-your-face (literally); burlesque is more showy, but also more subtle. A wink and a flutter of feathers. A slow striptease of a glove, finger by finger. And both genders can enjoy watching it. So more sauce I say. Fun for all the family.