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Dita Von Teese

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Dita Von Teese
Von Teese at 2007 Cannes Film Festival
Born
Heather Renée Sweet

(1972-09-28) September 28, 1972 (age 52)
Rochester, Michigan, United States
Occupation(s)Burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author, actress, singer
Websitedita.net

Dita Von Teese (born Heather Renée Sweet[1] on September 28, 1972) is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, and actress.[2] She is thought to have helped re-popularize burlesque performance[3] and was once married to Marilyn Manson.[4]

Early life

Von Teese was born in Rochester, Michigan, the middle of three daughters in a middle-class family.[5] Her mother was a manicurist and her father was a machinist.[5][6] She tweeted during Eurovision Song Contest 2009 that she is of partly Armenian heritage.[7] Dita later clarified that one of her grandmothers was half-Armenian and adopted into an Anglo-Saxon American family. Her grandmother's birth father was Armenian, making Von Teese 12.5% Armenian.[8] Von Teese is 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 age-era Hollywood films, and it was from her that Von Teese developed a fascination with the actresses of that day, especially Betty Grable.

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."[6] 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.[5] Von Teese attended University High School in Irvine.[9]

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.[9] 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, 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 films. She is a trained costume designer, often designing (and copyrighting) her photo shoots herself.[10]

Career

Von Teese got her stage name by adopting the name Dita as a tribute to silent film actress Dita Parlo. For her breakthrough 2002 Playboy cover, she was required to have a surname, so she chose Von Treese from the phonebook. In the magazine, this was misspelled as Von Teese, which she decided to stick with.[11]

Fetish and glamour modeling

Von Teese achieved some level of recognition in the fetish world as a tightlacer. Through the wearing of a corset for many years, she had reduced her waistline to 22 inches (56 cm), and can be laced down as far as 16.5 inches (42 cm).[12]

Von Teese appeared on a number of fetish magazine covers, including Bizarre[13] and Marquis.[14] It was around this time when she appeared on the cover of Midori's book, The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage.[15] Von Teese was featured in Playboy in 1999, 2001 and 2002, with a cover-featured pictorial in 2002. The German metal band Atrocity chose her as the cover model for their 2008 album, Werk 80 II.[16]

Burlesque

Von Teese is a prominent neo-burlesque performer

Von Teese is best known for her burlesque routines and is frequently dubbed the "Queen of Burlesque" in the press.[17][18] Von Teese began performing burlesque in 1992, and, as a proponent of New Burlesque, has helped to popularize its revival.[19] 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 signature show features a giant martini glass. 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.[20]

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.[21] Additionally, Von Teese became the first guest star at Paris's Crazy Horse cabaret club with her appearance in October 2006.[22] 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.

Von Teese's first book (in collaboration with Bronwyn Garrity), 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 (and in New York by Regan Books). Vanity Fair called her a "Burlesque Superheroine".

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 placed 20th out of 25 participants in the final round of the contest.[23] Later, she said her cleavage was censored during the show because it was too voluptuous.[24]

Acting

Von Teese is also an occasional actress. In her early years she appeared in fetish-related, soft-core pornographic movies, such as Romancing Sara, Matter of Trust, in which she is billed as Heather Sweet, and also in two Andrew Blake hard-core fetish films, Pin Ups 2[25] and Decadence.

In recent years she has appeared in more mainstream features, such as the 2005 short film, The Death of Salvador Dali, written by Delaney Bishop, which won best screenplay and best cinematography at recent festivals, including SXSW, Raindance Film Festival and Mill Valley Film Festival, and won Best Actress at Beverly Hills Film Festival. She starred in the feature film Saint Francis in 2007.

In addition, she has appeared in a number of music videos, including the video for the Green Day song "Redundant,"[26] the video for "Zip Gun Bop" by swing band Royal Crown Revue, Agent Provocateur's video for their cover of Joy Division's "She's Lost Control," and (performing her martini-glass burlesque routine) the video for "Mobscene" by Marilyn Manson.[27] She has been featured in a striptease/burlesque act in George Michael's live tour 2008, for the song "Feelin' Good."[28] In 2013 in the video clip "Up in the air" by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

She has expressed that acting is not at the top of her agenda and she would only take roles that she feels are right for her, stating in 2007, "I don't understand why women feel the need to go into acting as soon as they become famous ... But I suppose if the part were aesthetically correct, then maybe I could consider it."[29]

In January 2011, Von Teese guest-starred in the CBS police procedural drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which her friend Eric Szmanda stars, in season 11: episode 12 called "A Kiss Before Frying" where she played a femme fatale version of herself under the stage name Rita von Squeeze who seduces Szmanda's character Greg Sanders in a plot inspired by film noir.[30]

Fashion and modeling

Von Teese has appeared on a number of best-dressed lists[31] and frequents the front row of fashion shows, particularly Christian Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs, labels she is often seen wearing. "Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano and Vivienne Westwood were the first designers that really made an impact on me. Jean Paul has a lot of the same obsessions that I do, like corsetry, ballet-peach satin and silks, black silk velvet, bullet bras and girdles. When I was a teenager, I would look for 1930s peach satin lingerie pieces to try to get his look for less, because there was no way I could afford his things back then. It was a dream come true to meet him and become friends with him. I met him the first time when I was doing my first fashion pictorial, which was for Flaunt magazine, and it was a huge story of me wearing the most important pieces from his haute couture archives, and that was a dream!" [32]

She has also done catwalk work. During Los Angeles Fashion Week for 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. 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. She was an ambassador/spokesmodel for HIV/AIDS awareness when she was selected (along with Eve, Deborah Harry, and Lisa Marie Presley) for MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam VI campaign (a collection of lipsticks and lipgloss where 100% of the proceeds are for worldwide AIDS charities and to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS). Von Teese has appeared in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle,[33] and international issues of nearly every fashion magazine. She has campaigned on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and appeared in their ads.

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.[6] Von Teese's unique style is "inspired by eccentric women like Luisa Casati, Anna Piaggi, and Isabella Blow."[34]

She has designed a new lingerie range with Wonderbra.[35] In May 2012, Dita Von Teese launched her makeup collection "Classics" in partnership with the German cosmetic brand Art Deco. Compact powder, blushers, eye styler, eye shadows, mascara and lipstick were produced to recreate the burlesque performer's retro look.[34]

In 2012 Dita Von Teese launched her own clothing line[36] and underwear line called: Von Follies.[37][38] In 2013 Dita was both model and muse for the 'Dita' 3D printed gown designed by Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti and 3D printed by Shapeways exactly to fit her body.[39] Constructed of over 3,000 interlocked 3D printed components and over 12,000 Swarovski Crystals it is one of the first fully articulated 3D printed garments to take the technology from haute couture to a sensual fabric-like form.[40]

Personal life

Dita frequently takes Pilates and dressage lessons. Her house is dedicated to 1800-early 19 century decor, along with a complete pink kitchen with vintage appliances. She also has a room dedicated to hats.[5] She participated at the PETA's campaign "Animal Birth Control (ABC)."[41]

Von Teese currently resides in Hollywood, Ca.[42][43] She is a collector of vintage china, particularly eggcups and tea sets,[44] and drives a 1938 Packard One Twenty Eight, a 1946 Ford Super De Luxe,[45] a BMW Z4 and a 1965 Jaguar S-type.[46] She also owned a 1939 Chrysler New Yorker from 1997 to December 2010.[47][48]

Prior to her marriage to Marilyn Manson, she was romantically linked to vocalist/guitarist Mike Ness of Social Distortion[49] and to actor Peter Sarsgaard.[50] She has also spoken of several lesbian experiences, including a serious relationship with a woman when she was 20.[51] She also dated French aristocrat Louis-Marie de Castelbajac.[52]

She is currently in a relationship with Theo Hutchcraft of the electronic duo Hurts.[53]

Marriage to Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson had been a longtime fan of hers and was a member of her website. They first met when he asked her to dance in one of his music videos and though she was unable to, the two remained in contact. On Manson's 32nd birthday, in 2001,[54] she arrived with a bottle of absinthe and they became a couple. Manson proposed on March 22, 2004 and gave her a 1930s, 7-carat (1.4 g), European round-cut diamond engagement ring. On November 28, 2005, they were married in a private, non-denominational ceremony at home.

A larger ceremony was held on December 3 at Gurteen Castle in Kilsheelan (County Tipperary), Ireland, the home of their friend, Gottfried Helnwein. The wedding was officiated by surrealist film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky and appeared as a feature in the pages of Vogue. On December 29, 2006, Von Teese filed for divorce from Manson citing "irreconcilable differences."[55] Von Teese left their house empty-handed on Christmas Eve, and was not able to get in touch with Manson to inform him of her intention to divorce him. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Von Teese says "I wasn't supportive of his partying or his relationship with another girl. As much as I loved him I wasn't going to be part of that." Von Teese also stated that she gave Manson an ultimatum, and said that "it didn't work. Instead it made me the enemy."[42] Von Teese did not seek spousal support and seemed to have no interest in his assets.[55] The news broke for the public and for Manson on his birthday on January 5, 2007, when he was served the divorce papers.

Filmography

List of acting credits in film and television
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Romancing Sara Allison
1997 Matter of Trust Girl with C.T.
1999 Pin-Ups 2
2000 Decadence
2001 Slick City: The Adventures of Lela Devin Lela Devin
Tickle Party: Volume 2
2002 Bound in Stockings
Naked and Helpless
2004 Blooming Dahlia Elizabeth Curt
Lest We Forget: The Video Collection Girl in martini glass
2005 The Death of Salvador Dali Gala Won Best Actress at Beverly Hills Film Festival
2006 Saint Francis Soul, Pica Bernard
2007 Indie Sex: Extremes Herself Documentary
The Boom Boom Room Adeline Winter
2011 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Agnes / Ellen Whitebridge / Rita von Squeeze Season 11, Episode 12: "A Kiss Before Frying"

Von Teese was a featured guest on the sixth episode (original air date: October 25, 2006) of cycle 7 of America's Next Top Model[56] and as a coach in the burlesque special Faking It.[57] She appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. Dita Von Teese also appeared on stage at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest during the German entry.

Music videos

Year Artist Title Notes
2013 Monarchy ft. Dita Von Teese "Disintegration" —
2013 30 Seconds to Mars "Up in the Air" —
2003 Marilyn Manson "mOBSCENE" —

Writings

  • Von Teese, Dita; Garrity, Bronwyn (2006). Burlesque and the Art of the Teese: Fetish and the art of the teese. New York: Regan Books. ISBN 0060591676.

Music Single

  • Monarchy - Disintergration featuring Dita Von Teese (2013)

References

  1. ^ Mackenzie, James (January 22, 2009). "Striptease queen Dita von Teese back at Paris revue". Reuters. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  2. ^ Simone Werle (May 2009). Fashionista: A Century of Style Icons. Prestel. p. 170. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  3. ^ Jacki Willson (December 15, 2007). The Happy Stripper: Pleasures and Politics of the New Burlesque. I.B.Tauris. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-84511-318-6. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  4. ^ Gale Biography in Context (2009)
  5. ^ a b c d Craig McLean (September 20, 2008). "Dita von Teese's naked ambition". The Times. London. Retrieved September 20, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c Naomi West (June 3, 2006). "Art of the Teese". Telegraph.co.uk. London. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  7. ^ Official Twitter. Twitter.com (2009-05-15). Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  8. ^ "My grandmother was half Armenian – exclusive interview with Dita Von Teese". style.news.am. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Katherine Nguyen (April 6, 2006). "Dita von Teese: Call her old-fashioned". ocregister.com. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  10. ^ Kristen Dizon (February 12, 2004). "Burlesque is Back". seattlepi.com. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  11. ^ Nguyen, Katherine (April 5, 2006). "Dita Von Teese: Call her old-fashioned". The Orange County Register. Orange County Register Communications. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  12. ^ More Teese if you please, Yorkshire Evening Post, October 20, 2006. Accessed November 5, 2011.
  13. ^ Kate Hodges (July 6, 2008). "Viva La Dita!". Dennis Publishing. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  14. ^ Dita Von Teese – Credits and Appearances. Dita.net. Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  15. ^ dage-by-midori-2002/ The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage by Midori (2002) « pocket venus: dita von teese. Pocketvenus.wordpress.com (2008-03-05). Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  16. ^ Ex-Marilyn Manson featured on Atrocity cover. Side-line.com (1999-02-22). Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  17. ^ Melissa Maynard (June 1, 2005). "My Fashion Life: Dita Von Teese". Vogue.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2007.
  18. ^ Isabelle-Marie Créac'h. "Woman of Global Style: Dita Von Teese". Vogue.com. Archived from the original on March 9, 2007. Retrieved March 20, 2007.
  19. ^ Daniel Robert Epstein (March 10, 2006). "Suicide Girls Interview". Tribe.net. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  20. ^ "Dita Von Teese – Shows and Performances". Dita.net. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
  21. ^ Diamonds Are a Queen's Best Friend, Queerty, October 18, 2005. Accessed November 5, 2011.
  22. ^ DITA VON TEESE PERFORMS AT THE LEGENDARY CRAZY HORSE DE PARIS[dead link]
  23. ^ Burlesque star in German line-up. Esctoday.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  24. ^ Von Teese: 'Eurovision censors picked on me' – Showbiz News. Digital Spy (2009-10-02). Retrieved on August 22, 2011. She has just wrapped up her 2012 tour of "Strip Strip Hooray", where she performed some of her famously known acts such as "a Guy who takes his time", Compact act, Cowgirl act, and her famous Japanese-inspired act.
  25. ^ Dita Von Teese Lesbian Sex Video Surfaces. Thenewsvault.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  26. ^ "Didja Know: Useless Green Day facts". The Green Day Authority. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  27. ^ Blair R. Fischer. "Sweet (wet) dreams are Made of this: Marilyn Manson snaps nudes of modern-day fetish queen/girlfriend Dita von Teese". Playboy. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  28. ^ Dita von Teese and George Michael live in Madison Square Garden, August 24, 2008. Youtube.com (2008-08-24). Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  29. ^ Jonathan Isaby. "Spy: Not an Act". Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2007.
  30. ^ http://www.tv.com/shows/csi-crime-scene-investigation/a-kiss-before-frying-1364685/ Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  31. ^ Dita Von Teese, Factio Magazine. Accessed November 5, 2011.
  32. ^ http://www.realstylenetwork.com/Magazine/Winter2013/#/28/
  33. ^ Annika Suvi Johanna Väisänen (January 2009). "Dita Von Teesen Tyylivinkit". Elle Finland.
  34. ^ a b Amy Schroeder & Constanze Lyndsay Han (December 1, 2007). "Dita Von Teese the Showgirl". Venuszine.com. Retrieved July 13, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "Showgirl" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  35. ^ Dita von Teese named new Wonderbra model, The Telegraph, January 21, 2008. Accessed November 5, 2011.
  36. ^ Alexander, Ella. "Dita Von Teese On Dresses Collection". 10 December 2012. Vogue. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  37. ^ Ella, Alexander. "Dita Von Teese Lingerie Exclusive". 30 November 2012. Vogue. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  38. ^ Ella, Alexander. "Lingerie Teese". 9 March 2012. Vogue. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  39. ^ http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/1952-Revealing-Dita-Von-Teese-in-a-Fully-Articulated-3D-Printed-Gown.html
  40. ^ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324678604578342570070411796.html
  41. ^ Dita for Peta's ABC campaign
  42. ^ a b Kimberly Cutter (April 22, 2007). "Educating Dita". The Sunday Telegraph. London. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  43. ^ "Dita Von Teese: Stripteese". SuicideGirls.com. December 18, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2009.
  44. ^ "Dita's Vintage Obsession". exposay.com. December 27, 2006. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  45. ^ [1] http://www.heavy.com/moto/moto-video/2011/11/driving-with-dita-von-teese
  46. ^ Dita Von Teese – Biographical Information. Dita.net. Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  47. ^ Dita Von Teese’s 1939 Chrysler New Yorker Sold For $23,403. Streetlegaltv.com (2010-12-23). Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  48. ^ eBay listing of 1939 Chrysler New Yorker belonging to Dita Von Teese[dead link]
  49. ^ "Dita: Manson is Wonderful". contactmusic.com. October 10, 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  50. ^ "Dita has explosive sex". The Sun Online. London. Retrieved February 17, 2007. [dead link]
  51. ^ Rosanna Greenstreet (November 2, 2006). "Q&A: Dita Von Teese". Guardian Unlimited. London. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  52. ^ Dita Von Teese and boyfriend Louis Marie de Castelbajac in Paris Daily Celebrity Photos – Glamour.com (Glamour.com UK). Glamourmagazine.co.uk (2011-03-09). Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  53. ^ "Dita Von Teese passionately kisses Hurts frontman Theo Hutchcraft at Coachella Festival" Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  54. ^ "Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese Wed in Ireland". The Heirophant (originally People Magazine). December 3, 2005. Retrieved February 17, 2007. [dead link]
  55. ^ a b "Rock star Manson set to divorce". BBC News. January 6, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  56. ^ Episodes – America's Next Top Model. Tvguide.com. Retrieved on August 22, 2011.
  57. ^ "Faking It" Burlesque Special (2006) .

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