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Burlesque performer Dita Von Teese, nee Heather Sweet, takes her cues from the glamour girls of the 1940s.


By KATHERINE NGUYEN
The Orange County Register
PERFORMER: Dita Von Teese learned about corsets while living in Irvine.

DANEILLE BEDICS MORE PHOTOSBook signing
Dita Von Teese will be at Book Soup at South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 7.
For other book signings in O.C., click here.
In high school, Heather Sweet quietly worked as a cashier at Rubino's Pizza in Irvine.
She was 15 and coming of age. Years of watching old Betty Grable movies and sneaking glances at her father's Playboy magazines had actually convinced Sweet that real women were supposed to wear seamed stockings and garter belts.

So when her mother handed her a plastic egg with a pair of wrinkly pantyhose inside and then promptly took her to buy her first bra, a white, snap-button, cotton garment - Sweet was appalled. They resembled nothing like the fancy lace and ribbons Sweet had fantasized about. Luckily, Rubino's was next door to a lingerie shop where Sweet spent her earnings on a proper pair of stockings and garters.
That was in 1988.
In the years that followed, the teenager from Orange County would take on many changes: Her blond mane became red and then jet black. She would soon take on the name Dita Von Teese, and become a stripper, sultry pin-up girl, fetish model, burlesque dancer, Playboy cover girl, and then wife to shock rocker Marilyn Manson.
Now, at 33, she adds "author" to her provocative résumé. "Burlesque and the Art of the Teese" is a glossy tribute to the glamorous art form that Von Teese has been credited with reviving.
The hefty coffee table book details Von Teese's love affair with burlesque and fetish. It's also filled with stunning portraits of the retro maven vamping it in all things extravagant, from her perfectly powdered skin, painted red lips and pin-curled updos to her crystal-beaded corsets, feathers and impossibly high heels.
Von Teese has been touring New York and Chicago to promote her book. She heads back to her old O.C. stomping grounds Friday with an appearance at Book Soup at South Coast Plaza. Von Teese chats with the Register beforehand.
Q. How long did you live in Orange County?
A.I was born in Michigan, but my family moved to Irvine when I was 12. I lived in O.C. up until five years ago. I lived in Irvine, then moved to Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. I miss it in O.C. I miss driving my vintage cars on all the nice O.C. roads. I can't really do that in L.A. now.
Q. What was it like growing up in O.C.?
A.I went to University High in Irvine. I worked at the pizza restaurant but went to the lingerie store next door so much they ended up hiring me. That's where I learned to get my first corset and found out about fetish modeling. When I was 17 or 18, I worked in the lingerie department at the Robinsons-May at Fashion Island and MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana.
Q. How did you get into burlesque?
A.I've always loved watching old, classic musicals from the '40s. I loved how glamorous the women were. After high school, I worked in the L.A. rave scene as a go-go dancer. Then a friend took me to Captain Cream's in Lake Forest. At the time, it was just a bikini bar and had all these beautiful girls working there. But I was bored by all the girls who just walked around the poles and didn't do much. So I got a job working there. For my audition, I showed up in vintage lingerie. I had on a corset, stockings, long gloves, the whole deal. I know people thought I was strange-looking, with the whole retro look going on, but it helped me stand out. Working at the strip club helped me experiment and develop my burlesque act. Then I started headlining at different clubs.
Q. What is burlesque?

A.It's something modern media don't understand too well. They make it out to be a dancing girl in red lipstick wearing fishnet tights, but it's so much more.It's a spin-off of vaudeville acts, but raunchier. Women perform a full striptease, but it's a real stage production. Often, the dancer has a real live band and comes onto the stage completely dressed and slowly peels off her clothes, but all the while builds this great anticipation. It's very elaborate, about a seven-to-10-minute show that's really spectacular. Q. What's one of your shows like?
A. Very elaborate. I wear custom-made costumes. I am known for using big props onstage. I'm probably most known for my martini glass dance, where I'm in a giant martini glass, splashing around in lukewarm water for a few minutes with a big olive sponge. I also use a big carousel horse, a giant powder compact, a filigree heart and a claw-toe bathtub with a working showerhead that's encrusted with rhinestones. My brand-new stage set is modeled after a Chinese-style opium den.
Q. Anything funny or disastrous happen during a performance?
A.Once my hair caught on fire. We had a new stagehand, and he accidentally lit the candelabra prop. All the hair spray I had didn't help, either. The audience paid good money to see the show, so I just put out the flames and got back to giving them a show.
Q. Your waist size is 22 inches and 16 inches when corseted?!?
A.Yes, I did some corset-training. I've been wearing corsets since I was 18. It does shape your waistline after all that time. But I exercise, too. I swim and bike a lot. I take my clothes off for a living, so I have to keep my figure.
Q. When did you feel like you finally made it?
A.When I got on the cover of Playboy in 2002, it changed everything. I had been on the scene for eight years as a burlesque dancer and fetish model, but after Hugh Hefner put his stamp of approval on me, it helped me go mainstream.
Q. How did you come up with the name of Dita Von Teese?
A.I named myself after Dita Parlo, one of my favorite silent-film stars. When I got the cover of Playboy, they told me I had to have a last name. So I picked "Von Treese" out of the phonebook, and they ended up misspelling it "Von Teese." I'm glad it happened that way.