Dita Von Teese Quotes

Dita Von Teese. Photo by Vivanista.

Photo by Viva Vivanista.

Dita Von Teese quotes. Von Teese (1972- ) is a well-known burlesque star and model. She has appeared in the the film The Death of Salvador Dali and in ad campaigns for MAC Cosmetics, Cointreau and Perrier.

Born Heather Renée Sweet, Dita took her stage name in honor of Dita Parlo, the silent film actress. Dita was classically trained as a ballet dancer, until she realized that "at 15, I was as good as I'd ever be."

Dita's fascination with 1940s cinema and style led her to perform burlesque, starting at age 19. She has appeared on the cover of Bizarre, Marquis, Playboy, and has appeared in Vanity Fair and Elle.

The following quotes come largely from interviews of Dita von Teese, as well as a few from her books.

Burlesque

We're strippers. I'm not ashamed of being a stripper. Gypsy Rose Lee was called a stripper; it's not a bad word. It's where modern-day striptease started. It's the same thing, it's just a different kind of styling, and maybe there were a little more theatrics involved, a little more glamour.

I don't put myself above [strippers]. I used to work alongside strippers and pole dancers. In fact I miss it.

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. They were there to make people forget about their problems, and I want to uphold that tradition.

I like the process of knowing, when the curtains open on this big, expensive, elaborate, fabulous show, I did all the creative parts of it. I’m not just a girl taking off her clothes to music.

It's not being the girl in the show what my main talent is, believe it or not...The reason I think people notice my shows is the creative part of it, not that I’m the prettiest girl or the best dancer or the youngest.

I like what I do, I enjoy the creative process of conceptualising, building and starring in my shows, and acting doesn’t really allow me the control and creativity I love. Maybe that means I will always be lesser-known than movie stars, reality tv show stars, tv actresses and pop stars, but frankly, I don’t mind.

Fame

I don’t understand why women feel the need to go into acting as soon as they become famous.

It's very satisfying to be perhaps the only celebrity without a stylist that manages to make it on the best dressed lists.

Fashion

Hip clothes and shoes and handbags can drive a woman wild. I think it's even stronger than sex for some.

The most prolific women in fashion are not "of the moment," they dare to be different and have distinctive style that does not change from season to season, it only evolves.

My look and my style is a combination of inspiration from many things, and from decades of my own personal evolution.

I would rather look at someone who has overdone it than someone who is wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt. I love when you see an old woman who's been wearing her makeup and hair the same way for 40 years.

I once second guessed my instincts and had a stylist come over to my house and help me go through my vintage collection with me, and I remember she picked up a beautiful pair of 1930’s shoes and said "these would look SO cute with jeans" and that was the moment I realised that she knew nothing about me (I don’t even own jeans) and that I was best off staying true to my own personal style rather than let someone else tell me what is right and what is wrong, and putting her own tastes on me.

Marlene Dietrich...knew her own style and took risks and wore pants when people said it wasn't glamorous and was a terrible thing for a woman to do. She had a signature style. Greta Garbo, too. They embraced their own cliché and their persona, and I love that. Women love to dress up now, but I feel like there aren't a lot of risk-takers.

Glamour

Dita Von Teese in Vivenne Westwood.

I think it's bad manners to stand around in public with ripped jeans and your hair in a mess, holding a Starbucks.

Glamour is about creating illusion. I’m clearly all for the illusion, partially because I also love to strip it all away at times and reveal my vulnerability to those I want to. It’s not about hiding.

I was very upset that I couldn't wear my Easter Sunday dress or my Christmas dresses all the time. It didn't make sense to me that I couldn't wear something pretty all the time. So I began plotting my womanhood at a young age.

If I go out to a club, I wear a hat and gloves and maybe a corset, and people look at me because I'm not wearing a short Paris Hilton dress or a dress cut down to my navel.

If I admire someone, I prefer to see them at their best. I don't want to see a woman that I think of as glamorous in the grocery store wearing sweatpants and a ripped T-shirt.

I felt like there are a lot of beauty books out there that tell you the right way to wear your makeup, and I want to tell people how they can create glamour in their lives, and that breaking the rules is sometimes the best way.

Life

It's nice to be comfortable, but I'd rather be uncomfortable.

The truth is that I'm a very ordinary blonde girl from Michigan.

When things get you down, make the best of your own life rather than worrying about what everyone else thinks.

I wish more people would focus on doing what they do best rather than feeling the pressure to get involved in everyone else’s stuff!

I only take criticism seriously when it comes from someone that I admire.

Makeup

You either wear a very matte lipstick that’s very dry and doesn’t bleed, like MAC Ruby Roo or Russian Red, or you wear something that’s shiny and you look at it every, like, half hour to make sure it’s OK. There’s not really a secret. There’s no trick!
––on how she keeps her lipstick from bleeding

Marilyn Manson and their Divorce

Dita Von Teese with Marilyn Manson.

Dita Von Teese was married to Marilyn Manson from 2005 to 2006. Their divorce, and Manson's subsequent hookup with Evan Rachel Wood, attracted a great deal of publicity.

I basically lived with Mommie Dearest for six years.

I had all the faith in the world in our relationship for the seven years we were together. I loved him very much, and when I married him I completely believed it would be forever. But that's not what happened.

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.

I think it's unfortunate that [Manson has] had to exploit our divorce for the sake of record sales, but you do what you gotta do, I suppose. I think most people at this point understand what happened and what they're dealing with when he's doing interviews drunk and offering journalists cocaine. It kind of tells you what I might have been up against. I'm just trying to put it past me, I'm happy to be a single girl and have that drama out of my life.

I know I'll fall in love again. And I know that I loved him [Manson] enough to try and help.

Sex

For me, lingerie isn’t about seduction, it’s about being a woman.

People have always been interested in sex. There have been periods where there was more censorship, but you can find explicit hardcore pornography from the invention of the camera.

Don't save your good lingerie for dates, wear it for YOU.

True sexiness has many facets. The elements include things like confidence, strength, intelligence, and humor.

The great seductresses in history knew that it isn’t just about trying to look sexy or pretty; it’s an art and one becomes skillful in it when she realizes that there are all these conflicting elements that all come together to make something magical.

Related Reading:

Dita Von Teese Gallery

1950s Fashion

Black Lipstick

Classic Lolita

Gothic Lolita

Kathleen Hanna, Style Icon


Return from Dita Von Teese quotes to Enjoy Your Style's vintage fashion page.

Return from Dita Von Teese quotes to Enjoy Your Style's full quotes page.

Return to Enjoy Your Style's home page.

Search this website:

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Search this site: