For Model And Burlesque Star Dita Von Teese, Old-Fashioned Beauty Is A Part Of Her Everyday Life

Dita and her newly acquired Zoe Mozert pastel on paper, Portrait of a Woman, from the Charles Martignette Collection.Interview By Hector CantuPhotographs By Axel Koester

Entering the Los Angeles home of Dita Von Teese is like traveling back in time.
At the door, looking for all the world like she's just stepped out of a 1950s television commercial, Von Teese greets guests in a June Cleaver dress, with perfectly coifed hair and bright red lipstick. In her living room, you'll lounge on furniture patterned after 1930s Art Deco classics. If she lets you peek into a bedroom that's been transformed into a giant walk-in closet, you'll see brooches, stockings, shoes, hats and corsets from the 1940s. And in her garage, you'll see her latest vintage car, maybe a classic 1965 Jaguar S-Type.


Von Teese is lucky. Her career as a burlesque performer-turned-international style icon allows her to fill her life with things she likes, things that remind her of days gone by.

"Some defining moments in my life were times I spent at my grandparent's house," says the native of Rochester, Mich. "All the things in it were fascinating to me. They were married in the 1930s, and so they had a lot of things from that era, lots of knick knacks. Today, I can't stand sterile environments, modern places, white colors. I like the richness, depth and romantic feel of old times."

"I would describe her look as Hollywood Regency," says Connie Parente, who provides jewelry for fashion shoots, music videos and movies, and who counts Von Teese among her clients. "It's like taking a movie set from the late '30s or early '40s and bringing it into your home."


Other than her stage name (she was born Heather Ren?e Sweet), there's little about Von Teese's demeanor that gives away what she does for a living. She is soft-spoken and petite, standing no more than 5 feet 6 inches. Yet this model-turned-Playboy centerfold has crafted a wildly popular burlesque show that's recorded two sold-out runs at Los Angeles' Roxy Theatre. Last summer, she took "Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray!" on the road, selling out venues coast-to-coast. "We've seen a lot of Dita's show, and it does not disappoint!" celebrity blogger Perez Hilton gushes. "There's just something about how she moves that can put anyone into a trance ... magical stuff, we tell you!"


Dita has her own ideas about what's magical. There's magic in the Art Deco, tall-case clock standing sentry-like in the corner of her living room. In the vintage silverware she keeps in her kitchen. In the pin-up paintings on her walls. In the brooches stored in her bedroom closet.

"Things she's attracted to," Parente says, "are things that suit her look and personality. When she puts something on, it looks like she was born in it."

"Generally," says Von Teese, "I have a big appreciation for the way things were made with a different kind of beauty, pre-1940s. And generally, I don't care what the value is. Somebody once told me, 'Do you know what you have there?' And that's great. I'm glad to know something I have has a certain kind of resale value. But generally, I'm not a snob about my collection. I buy things that I like."

Do you ever answer your front door wearing pajamas or jeans? In today's celebrity culture, there's a whole attitude of, "I'm just like you." It used to be in old Hollywood there was an attitude of, "I'm not like you. I'm totally different. I go around like this every day." It was about creating mystique. People like to have something to dream about. If you see your favorite actress at Starbucks with her hair not brushed, wearing sweatpants with holes, wearing Birkenstocks, I think it bums people out.

So when did you start collecting? My mother used to collect antiques. She loved buying vintage furniture and stripping it and re-doing it herself. So we were always looking at antiques, vintage furniture, going to garage sales. I always say I don't know what I'd do if I fell in love with someone who was really into modern style and d?cor. One time, a certain very handsome, well-known movie star wanted to go on a date with me and I went to his house and I was thinking, "This is never going to work." It was one of those extreme minimalist, white modernist houses. Push a button and the doors open. That kind of thing. It was really too much for me. We never even really went on a first date. But I also started collecting because I couldn't afford new things. I couldn't afford designer clothes, and so that's how I started flea-marketing and buying vintage.

Let's start with your pin-up art collection. Obviously, it's easy to see the connection between Golden Age pin-up art and your career as a burlesque performer.I just bought a Zoe Mozart [1904-1993] at a Heritage auction. I'm still kicking myself because there are a few things I lost in that auction. I was there from start to finish and there was a Peter Driben [1902-1968] piece. I'm really distraught that I didn't get one when I had a chance. You're sitting there, thinking that the price is getting pretty high, and you stop bidding and then you go home and think, "Oh my god! These are important pieces, pieces that inspired everything about my career! And they're as valuable as any other kind of artwork!" You think how much influence pin-up art has had on culture, especially for me. But it's hard.


Did you bid on any other items in that auction?

It's amazing how popular pin-up art has become in recent years. Yes, it's incredible. But at the same time, when you think about the art of that era, people will always love it and it's finished. It's over. There's nothing like that now. So of course people want it.


Who are some of your favorite pin-up artists? [French artist] Jean-Gabriel Domergue [1889-1962] is one. I love the big colorful Gil Elvgrens [1914-1980]. I love Rolf Armstrong [1889-1960]. I love Alberto Vargas [1896-1982]. I like the big, colorful paintings the most. I love the punchy ones on the covers of Wink, Eyeful and Titter. I collect magazines from that era, from the 1940s and 1950s.

I see pin-up art hanging on your walls. What piece are you most proud of right now? My Zoe Mozart is beautiful. I like my Domergues. I like the long necks he painted, the swan neck. I also like things that aren't necessarily by famous painters. I find a lot of great paintings in Paris, like costume sketches and vintage showgirl sketches. I also like works by Olivia [b.1948]. She's a modern pin-up artist and she's a good friend of mine and I have a few original paintings that she did of me.