.......Ladies & Gents .......... Ms Dita Von Teese..........

........thank you for bringing back some glamour to Hollywood.

And for reinvigorating burlesque.

I love this woman's style. Even when doing burlesque she has style and glamour.

I miss this type of Hollywood.

The current crop are such slobs compared to this woman.

Early life

Dita Von Teese was born Heather Renée Sweet^[1] on September 28, 1972 in Rochester, Michigan, the middle of three daughters.^[2] Her mother was a manicurist and her father was a machinist^[3] at a company that made graphite.^[2] She is of partly Armenian heritage.^[4]

Von Teese is well known for her fascination with 1940s cinema and classic retro style. This began at a young age and was fostered by her mother, who would buy clothes for her daughter to dress up in. Her mother was a fan of old, Golden-era Hollywood films, and it was from her that Von Teese developed a fascination with the actresses of that day, especially Betty Grable, an actress that she frequently cites as her favorite.

She was classically trained as a ballet dancer from an early age, and danced solo at age thirteen for a local ballet company. Though she originally wanted to be a ballerina, Von Teese states that "By 15 I was as good as I’d ever be".^[3] She was later to incorporate this element into her burlesque shows, where she frequently goes en pointe.

The family relocated from Michigan to Orange County, California when her father's job moved.^[2] Von Teese attended University High School in Irvine.^[5]

As a teenager, Von Teese's mother took her to buy her first bra, made from plain white cotton, and gave her a plastic egg containing a pair of wrinkly, flesh-colored tights.^[5] Von Teese says she was disappointed as she had been hoping to receive beautiful lacy garments and stockings, of the type she had glimpsed in her father's Playboy magazines. This fueled her passion for lingerie. She worked in a lingerie store as a salesgirl when she was fifteen, and eventually as a buyer. Von Teese has been fond of wearing elaborate lingerie such as corsets and basques with fully fashioned stockings ever since.

In college Von Teese studied historic costuming and aspired to work as a stylist for period films. She is a trained costume designer.^[6]

Burlesque

Von Teese is best known for her burlesque routines and is frequently dubbed "the Queen of Burlesque"^[12][13] in the press. Von Teese began performing burlesque in 1993^[14] and, as a proponent of New Burlesque, has helped to popularize its revival. In her own words, she "puts the tease back into striptease" with long, elaborate dance shows with props and characters, often inspired by 1930s and 1940s musicals and films. Some of her more famous dances have involved a carousel horse, a giant powder compact, a filigree heart and a clawfoot bathtub with a working shower head. Her feather fan dance, inspired by burlesque dancer Sally Rand, featured the world's largest feather fans, now on display in Hollywood's Museum Of Sex.^[15] Her signature show features a giant martini glass.

Her burlesque career has included some memorable performances. She once appeared at a benefit for the New York Academy of Art wearing nothing but $5 million worth of diamonds.^[16] Additionally, Von Teese became the first ever guest star to perform at the Parisian Crazy Horse cabaret club when she appeared there in October, 2006.^[17] Also in 2006, Von Teese appeared on an episode of America's Next Top Model cycle 7 doing a workshop to teach the contestants about sexiness by means of burlesque dancing and posing. In 2007 Von Teese performed at the adult entertainment event Erotica 07 in London alongside Italian Rock noir band Belladonna.

Cameron Diaz performed a tribute to Von Teese's martini glass routine^[18] in the film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.^[15] Von Teese's name appears in the credits, listed under "Special Thanks." It is rumored that this was only added after Dita threatened to sue the film makers for stealing her idea.^{[citation needed]}

Von Teese's first book, which consisted of her opinions on the history of burlesque and fetish, Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese, was published in 2006 by HarperCollins. Vanity Fair called her "a Burlesque Superheroine."

In 2008 Von Teese was one of the contributors to Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna's book Cherry Bomb along with Jessicka, Tori Amos, Cherie Currie of the Runaways, Terri Nunn, Christian Joy, Lisa Loeb, Katy Perry, Samantha Maloney, Betsey Johnson, Anna Sui, and Louise Post. ^[19][20]

Von Teese participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia as part of the stage performance for the German entry "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang". The act took place 20 out of 25 participants in the final round.^[21]

Fashion and modeling

at Selfridges, London in 2007.

In recent years, the fashion world^[who?] has come to accept Von Teese and her retro look, and she has appeared on a number of best-dressed lists.^[26] Von Teese frequents the front row of fashion shows, particularly Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs, labels she is often seen wearing.

She has also done various catwalk work. During Los Angeles Fashion Week, Spring 2004, she modeled for former-club kid Richie Rich's fashion label, Heatherette. In 2005 she appeared in the Autumn/Winter Ready-to-Wear show for Giambattista Valli, a former designer for Ungaro, in Paris. In the 2006 Milan Fashion Week, Von Teese was on the runway, opening for the Moschino diffusion label, Moschino Cheap & Chic, autumn/winter 2006/7 show. In 2007, she appeared twice in the Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture show during the Paris Fashion Week. Additionally, she has starred in several ad campaigns. She appeared in Vivienne Westwood's spring/summer 2005 collection adverts and became the face of Australian clothing range Wheels and Dollbaby for their 2006/7 Spring/Summer advertising campaign. Currently, she is a spokesmodel for MAC Cosmetics. Von Teese has appeared in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, and international issues of nearly every fashion magazine. She has also campaigned on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and appeared in their ads. Most recently she has designed a new lingerie range with Wonderbra.^[27]

In spite of this, Von Teese states that she never uses a stylist. "The one time I hired a stylist, they picked up a pair of my 1940s shoes and said, "These would look really cute with jeans." I immediately said, 'You’re out of here.'" She does her own make-up, and dyes her naturally blonde hair black at home.^[3]

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