Watch the miniseries Welcome to Chippendales to uncover the truth about the Chippendale strip club! Want to be the first to know all about how the concept of male strip clubs was introduced to American society? What’s more, stripping bowties started feeling sexy!
In the blog, I will address how important it is to understand the relationship between striptease and running a business, which then led to debauchery, racketeering, and conspiracies. Further, if you are curious about Somen Steve Banerjee, this blog also discusses how he started with the American dream and ended up in jail.
Furthermore, the act of striptease might seem completely innocent, but it can turn into lewd actions and improper behavior. Bowtie symbolizes the line between grace and seductiveness, which must be crossed cleverly. And this is exactly what Steve meant when he introduced the male strip club!
Striptease & More? This Is What Truly Happened Beyond The Bowtie!
Bowtie is not an accessory that men wear when they are wearing a suit! It goes beyond that, especially regarding style and grace added to your dressing sense. You cannot limit the bowtie to science guys, nerds, and James Bond because it means more than an accessory.
Bow Tie also symbolizes the uncompromising embracing of style, representing uncaged creativity and preciseness. So do you wonder, bowtie-wearing men dancing only in their underwear gets women excited? Well, Somen Steve Banerjee thought so! He became crafty as he developed the idea.
In the blog, I will discuss bow ties as an eternal perception of creativity, seduction, and prowess used by Chippendales troupes to attract more clients. Founder of Chippendales, Steve Banerjee, his entrepreneurship, controversies, and death are discussed!
About Chippendales Strip Club
In the beginning, the Chippendale strip club was a failing L.A. club in 1975 when Steve Banerjee bought the club. He named the club Destiny II and turned it into a dance club. Later, there was exotic dancing, and female mud wrestling was hosted.
However, with all these events, the club needed help finding the correct audience; therefore, it was important for Steve to change the concept. Four years later, Somen Banerjee and his partner, lawyer Bruce Nahin, introduced the idea of male strip clubs.
The club was renamed Chippendale because the furniture of the club was all wooden, along with the style being manly. Relaunched into a ladies-only club, the place finally has hit its mark.
One of the major reasons this became a success was because it was the first time everything was only available or accessible to the ladies. Pimp and club promoter Paul Snider proposed the idea that the club should be turned into a male strip club.
The suggestion was from Dorothy Stratten, Playboy Playmate, who suggested that shirtless dancers with cuffs and bow tie collars would be a nod from Chippendales to Playboy bunnies. So, the symbolism of bow tie goes deeper than stripping as it has an underlying perception of class with seduction.
Do We Know Somen Steve Banerjee?
Somen became Steve after he opened a nightclub and got the idea of launching a ladies-only club! An Indian immigrant who came to the U.S. in the 1960s started working for Mattel, the Barbie toy company. He then bought a gas station, which he could not maintain, and faced losses.
Then he bought a rock club in 1975 and turned it into a male strip club where oiled-up men pose and gyrate on stage while the audience of these men are women! The dancing men entertain these women while the women tuck dollar bills into the men’s G-strings.
This is how Banerjee brought on male striptease in the mainstream American industry. The Chippendale dance troupe became a cultural phenomenon in the 1980s, but we missed the behind-the-scenes development of how this Indian immigrant changed the American sector.
After creating the strip club, he earned a lot! The problem was he forgot to stop running after money, considering there was further competition in the industry. Steve started getting worried about the competition, so he began hiring hitmen to kill competitive owners, performers, and staff, arson, and murder.
The Series, “Welcome To Chippendales”!
The main characters, Nick De Noia and Steve Banerjee are played by Murray Bartlett and Kumail Nanjiani, respectively. The wife of Steve Banerjee, Irene, was portrayed by Annaleigh Ashford, and Juliette Lewis played Denish Coughlan.
The show’s focus is, of course, to tell a true story. However, there are some creative liberties taken. The account’s accuracy is still unclear, especially regarding Irene’s account; for that, you have to watch the miniseries. Steve Banerjee also had three children; the elder one is currently responsible for his father’s estate.
The real-life events are difficult to emulate, especially because no bigger evidence exists. Paul Snider, who was a nightclub promoter and also a pimp, became quite popular. He was also known for killing his wife, former Playboy model Dorothy Stratten, who was also an actress.
It was Roy Colon whom Banerjee hired to kill De Noia; however, not a lot of information is known about it.
What Went Wrong For Chippendales!
He was starting From Bowties And Ending In Jail! This happened to Somen “Steve” Banerjee as he dreamed about making it big in America. He was an Indian immigrant and worked hard to make it big in the market, so he got himself a rock club and turned it into a strip club.
The problem started when the strip club did not just stay what it was created to be: an entertainment club for women. Further, the strip club later entertained racketeering, conspiracy, and arson as Steve started getting worried about the rising competition in the market.
Steve and Nick, the two founders of the male strip club, started having fights! Banerjee also got angry because De Noia became the face of the franchise. He started conspiring against Noia, and their verbal arguments started becoming vicious!
Murder And Mysteries…
After reading about the “Welcome to Chippendales” series, do you think you are ready to watch it? Do you believe that the man Somen Steve Banerjee was prepared for greatness if he did not get involved in arson and conspiracy?
Bow tie symbolizes the grace and class that men show! Imagine watching well-oiled men flaunting bow ties and cuffs. Of course, it looks hot for women in the show.
Comment down on what you think about the life of Steve Banerjee and his contribution to a male strip club.
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