"Me personally, I want to entertain people above all. When you look back at burlesque in history and the real golden age of burlesque, those entertainers were there to entertain, and there wasn't usually some big political message behind what they were doing."
Dita Von Teese (born Heather Renée Sweet, September 28, 1972, in Rochester, Michigan) is a burlesque dancer, fashion model, author, and some-time actress, who played a large part in popularising the burlesque genre and retro fashions in the modern age.
She's also a famed sex symbol, and the ex-wife of Marilyn Manson.
The poster girl for Raven Hair, Ivory Skin, although she dyes it.
Her appearances include:
- The CSI episode "A Kiss Before Frying" as a school teacher who becomes Greg's newest love interest, before becoming a murder suspect. She also has a side hustle as a burlesque dancer named "Rita von Squeeze".
- The upcoming film The Boom Boom Room about a naive newcomer to the world of burlesque modeling.
- She also appeared in one episode of RuPaul's Drag Race as a guest judge.
- She has had some acting gigs in films ranging from cameos to relatively long on-screen roles.
- She was a Special Guest at the Crazy Horse Paris cabaret in 2006 and 2016.
- Other than TV appearances, she was featured in electronic duo, Monarchy's song, "Disintegration" and in two of Monarchy's music videos. The first being "Disintegration"
and the other being, "Black Widow". - She has recently authored a beauty book, Your Beauty Mark, containing many of her secrets and tips to her style.
Provides examples of:
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Her style is very much inspired by The '40s era.
- Bound and Gagged : She is a fetish icon as well as a burlesque one, by her own admission,Dita: I'm into bondage. I think it's really fun, and I love playing the part of the Damsel in Distress.
- "Darkness von Gothick" Name: Dita von Teese
- Even the Girls Want Her: Dita has noted that a large amount of her audience is actually female, not male.
- High-Class Gloves: She frequently wears over-the-elbow gloves in her public appearances and photoshoots, in keeping with her retro-glamour image.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: With both her current beau and ex-husband Marilyn Manson.
- Kinky Spanking: Back to her status as a fetish icon, Dita is very open about her sensual desires, spanking being one of them. As she puts it, "the feeling is amazing when someone spanks me right".
- Older Than They Look: She devotes a great deal of time and effort - wearing sunscreen whenever possible, watching her diet, removing her makeup before bedtime - to protecting her skin (writing on the subject at length in Your Beauty Mark) to preserve her youthful look.
- Pretty in Mink: Some of her glamour pics include her wearing furs.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: As stated, her hair is dyed black, but her porcelain-like skin is natural and according to her, is a result of good skin care and having a top-notch dermatologist.
- Stage Name: Her real name is Heather Sweet. Yes, the one her parents gave her, and yes, they were Mr. and Mrs. Sweet. Yes, we know it sounds like someone else's stage name. For obvious reasons, she needed a more suitable name to go with her burlesque image.
