CNN has an interview with Dita Von Teese that you can watch here. I like how the interview opens with the narrator calling Dita the most beautiful girl in London, but then the camera spends more time on the quirky interviewer than the subject. Blah, I hate it when the media becomes more important than the subject at hand.
The best part of the interview was when Dita explained how much power she had over her image. She explained that she knew she could never be a beautiful naked super thin beach model like the mainstream demands, but she could become what she is, a woman with a very distinct style and appearance. The fact that her style coincides with her own tastes is just bonus.
I’ve been a fan of Dita for ages. I came across her on Usenet and was struck by how singular she looked. At the time, fetish photography leaned towards this stark woodshed appearance with models who looked like malnourished runaways. I understand why BDSM fetish likes things that remind them of prison camps, but it is not for me. I like BDSM as a vibrant creative hobby instead of a recreation of humanity’s darkness. Dita’s retro look and immaculate appearance represented an ideal that can be aspired to. When she did bondage work, it always came across as a fun colorful experience, not a dour enslavement of the soul.
Dita embodies that one vital piece of fashion advice that so many people seem oblivious to. I see people wearing Betty Page t-shirts where the wearer says that they wear the shirt because they are a fan of her style and appearance. Don’t wear a t-shirt of someone you admire. Embrace what you admire of them and incorporate it. Dita has become synonymous with her role models by observation, reproduction and innovation. She understood what she admired about them and followed in their footsteps. She didn’t declare her love for the 40’s by buying a bunch of t-shirts and getting a dozen saucy tattoos.
Over the years it seems Dita models less and does more burlesque work. I am a little disappointed as her modeling work is something I can access from home, while her burlesque work is something only shared with those who see her in person. I can’t fault her though. I imagine that burlesque is a more creative work for her. It forces a person to be both author and subject. Hell, it’s really just an old fashioned version of blogging if you want to get down to it.
7 Responses to “Dita Alert”
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I hate to say my favorite part of the interview is when she talks about the 40’s…”a more elegant time…good manners to present yourself in appealing ways”
If women present themselves in appealing ways – we tend to get called sluts, whores and asking for something….I say women in general; not our ‘famous’ stars.
Musns- Interesting point. Of course, we are talking about the 40’s and their oh so enlightened view on minorities, religious tolerance and sexual freedom. It amuses how much the fashion and music of an era can make some fans act like the entire decade was a golden age.
Well, that interviewer is annoying. It was fun whe she was snapping his suspenders. He looked both uncomfortable and a little worried his hard-on might show. :)
I think she has a new show, or a mini-series maybe, coming up soon on the IFC channel. I saw a preview recently.
Eve
Eve-What is sad is I like the interviewer in other things I have seen him in, where he is talking about a topic or discussing a scandal, but man he can’t give up the stage for another person can he?
Just on a wild guess, I bet her show is a reality elimination show with wanna-be burlesque dancers?
Luckily, NO! :)
Have a look at the IFC Site.
Looks like it could be pretty interesting.
Eve
thanks for the link, Shon. It’s interesting that someone who I primarily think of as a fetish and bondage model has really mainstreamed so smoothly, I saw here in the gossip pages hosting some high society fundraiser not long ago.
She sure has a pretty voice, too, very demure.
I liked the comments about her creating herself, making herself what she wanted to be. Something I think we all do (or should), but in a less self-aware way. reminds me of a quote from S.M. Sterling
“Be the man you wish to seem.”
Joe
yikes, I’ve got to slow my typing down – that was supposed to say “I HAVE to say”