Boudoir

"Boudoir" generally refers to lingerie-based shoots, hence the catch-all French term for a lady's  bedroom, dressing room, or personal lounging space. Think frothy dressing gowns, glamorous nightwear, fancy bra-and-panty sets, stockings, garter belts, and the like. It's often playful and  vintage in feel, but it doesn't have to be.

Many people also assume that boudoir has to be super-revealing or highly sexualized, and that's not really true, either. Marilee shoots everything from tasteful nudes to high-coverage dressing gowns, so there's room for everyone in Boudoirsville.

Typical boudoir-style sets include Marilee's Pink Bedroom, the Green "Boudoir" at the studio, the glam/vanity areas of the studio, and anything else that emphasizes a "sexy bed time" mood.

"Glamour" is a broad term, but we tend to use it in reference to themes featuring sophisticated, fancy clothing and makeup that does not usually include lingerie, nightwear, or other "bed time" themes. Think glamorous movie star looks, opulent gowns, over-the-top sparkly jewelry, and strong, elegant makeup. Glamour shots are often reminiscent of the 1920s through early 1960s, but not always.

Typical glamour settings include Marilee's Hollywood movie shoot backgrounds and props, her film noir set, velvet or chiffon curtain backdrops with her chandelier, and the vanity area of the studio.

Note: We know that "glamour model" is a term often applied to women who pose nude or in lingerie, but we tend to categorize that style as "boudoir."

Now that we've covered the differences among pinup, glamour, and boudoir photography, it's time to continue the discussion with a look at some of Marilee's favorite genres: cosplay, sci-fi, and horror themes.

Cosplay is a super-broad category, embracing virtually all photos that include models costumed or styled like fictional characters from a variety of media (and occasionally, famous real-life historical - or even contemporary - public figures). Sometimes, cosplay can include elements of pinup, glamour, boudoir, horror, or sci-fi. A theme like "Disney's Snow White, done as a 1940s pinup" is a classic combination of pin-up and cosplay, for example.

Horror and science fiction photography are two genres that often fit within, or alongside, cosplay. If you're portraying a "generic" (I use quotation marks because original characters are much niftier than the term might suggest) glamorous vampire, for example, that shades more into general horror than cosplay. But if you're portraying the Brides of Dracula or an enraptured Lucy Westenra, you're definitely doing cosplay (even if it's just your own interpretation of the literary characters from Bram Stoker's epistolary novel).

Whether your interest here is in replicating the look of a specific character or in becoming a character of your own creation, Marilee can help. She has sets, wardrobe, and hair and makeup skills to turn you into a romantic vampire, an enchanting witch, a sassy space explorer fighting a tentacle beast, a murderous 1950s housewife, or even the bride of Frankenstein's "monster" (you can go full Universal Horror Elsa Lanchester style if you wish!). You can even reenact a scene from The Creature From the Black Lagoon, playing Kay alongside Marilee's Gill-Man prop.

The sky's the limit, and Halloween is really just the beginning! There are even publication opportunities as various pinup and glamour magazines focus on cosplay, horror, and sci-fi themes year-round.