Dita Von Teese is back with a deluxe limited-edition hard cover of her hugely successful book Burlesque and the Art of The Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese. With amazing reviews, remarkable media attention, and majorsales of the trade edition in the United States, the UK and France, this new edition will be even more coveted than the first. Following the tradition of legends like Lili St Cyr and Gypsy Rose Lee, Dita is the most visible figure in the rediscovered art of burlesque dancing. In addition to her expertise as a classicaly styled burlesque performer, she is also steeped in the history of fetish in American sexual culture.
Dita Von Teese (born Heather Renée Sweet) is a popular American burlesque artist, model and actress.
She is one of the instigators of the burlesque revival and has been a considerable factor in bringing burlesque to mainstream attention. Her fame increased during her relationship with Marilyn Manson, to whom she was married from 2005 to 2007.
The mistress of keeping it on, not taking it off, Dita Von Teese truly is living art. A goddess. A muse. A femme fatale. Beautiful and real and charismatic in all the right doses. No spray on tans, fake beauty and hard body here. Just the real thing. Like it used to be. Soft and feminine. Power without the muscles, sexy without the fake and erotica without the money shot. This book is simply stunning. Not huge focus on text, although there is plenty to read on both arts, but it is huge on personality. The fashion is exquisite and the book is loaded with sky high Christian Louboutins, the finest seamed stockings and the infamous Jean Paul Gaultier Corseted couture. For me, the Jean Paul Gaultier corset dresses were a stand out. Nobody does it like Gaultier and nobody does it like Von Teese! A match made in heaven.
Another book I'm reviewing because I'm getting rid of it. Published in 2006, already it’s speaking from a different world, where burlesque wasn’t so ubquitous, before 50 Shades of Grey and the explosion of broadband porn – and it shows in the text. Although text isn’t really the point of the book.
Dita von Teese is essentially an aesthete, a highly feminised dandy. She is proud and upfront about artifice, of her vintage fashion collection, and seeks to create magic and to be a living work of art, like her heroes from the past Marchesa Luisa Casati, Liberace, and golden age Hollywood bombshells. A fetish for attention and approval certainly seems to be there, but she is also, regardless, a conoisseur and creator, who rather that following fashion, turned it towards her own tastes.
This is mostly a picture book. 90% fashion & style pics, 10% hot. YMMV, but it's closer to what you might see in Vogue than Penthouse. The costumes are often the focus, but there's also sometimes a frisson of very nearly revealing something. Because most extant photos of Dita are covered up to some extent, and she's seen often in the media, clothed, she has succeeded in creating a relative sense of rarity value to those pictures which are fully revealing, unlike most porn stars. [I already think I may have overstepped the mark for detail. a) as soon as I read a couple of other reviews on this page, my fear of creeping out girls, which I've had for much of my life, returned; and b) writing about this it might be construed as some kind of indirect flirting with men I don’t intend to flirt with.]
The Burlesque section: - A short history of burlesque in America, mostly about the Billy Minsky club and Bettie Page - An elementary guide to burlesque performance and associated fashion and makeup looks. In that oddly useless way of much celebrity-fronted advice, it combines insufficiently specific information that anyone with a vague interest would already know, with tips that are unrealistic for most people - albeit the latter end up as paragraphs of unintentional autobiography. The fashion and beauty advice isn’t likely to be of much interest to people who’ve found their own style, or who just want to copy one element, as it doesn't go into enough detail about creating a particular look. - A bit of autobiograpahy. Dita was fascinated by with vintage glamour from an early age, starting with watching films of the 30s, 40s and 50s with her mother. She originally wanted to work on historical costumes for film or theatre. -The book doesn't really go into the politics of burlesque – on one hand, kind of refreshing, because the conflicting feminist arguments have been discussed ad nauseam elsewhere. She knows she doesn't fit some feminist outlooks and makes a sort of pun that for her, feminism is about being as feminine as possible. Amusingly, she interprets Lysistrata as ultimately about tease and seduction. Questionable, but a nice change from the usual stuff heard online. (Is there any now any discussion or reasonably serious news site that is sex-positive in a non-naïve way, whilst not making sex its primary subject?) Von Teese has no problem with being called a stripper, but despite her own background, doesn't discuss the class issues that appear to lie behind the 'burlesque good, stripping bad' attitude that's frequently heard now. It's not that sort of book. It's closer to consumer magazines and little pink paperbacks that give advice on how to be stylish and alluring.
It's also a very straight book. Ten years ago, that wouldn’t have been noticed so easily. Dita mentions occasional gay men as friends designers or icons, but mostly she's interested in vintage hyper-femininity her sensual enjoyment of style, and heterosexual male responses to it. (Presumably she doesn't interact much all the men who, contrary to what the media leads one to believe, don't care about fancy underwear and high-end sex gear - and make this stuff seem like it's only for an audience in the female consumer's own head.)
She never analyses herself beyond her inspirations and favourites; that fits the aesthete / pure style portrayal, but the book would be more interesting if she discussed why she thought she is the way she is, beyond early interest in films and magazines. (I also had a very early interest in corsets, via Tudor costumes; my primary school drawings always showed people with triangular torsos; so I think there can simply be an aesthetic attraction to a striking shape, and if you have a small waist anyway, perhaps more so as it sounds more possible. (Not always possible …soon after leaving home, I realised I got fewer stomach aches if I didn’t wear belts, so regular corset-wearing was never really on the agenda even if I did eventually buy a few). But my association of corsets was with a very different kind of power: Elizabeth I and similar figures (who correlated having with a mother who had a successful career ,and the 80s and Mrs Thatcher) v. Dita's 30s-50s showgirls and pinups. )
The first half of the Fetish section at times talks more sense, although it has its limitations. (The second half is more style tips.) Von Teese thinks that domination is inseparable from cruelty, for example - however in visual performance, that probably is difficult to untangle. I like her idea that Freud was projecting his own feelings on to everyone else; somehow I hadn't heard it put quite that way, and so reasonably, before. There isn’t a great deal of serious argument about censorship, although von Teese gives the impression that she doesn’t apply the snobbish distinction of erotica v. porn. Whilst she doesn’t talk about her past forays into porn, she doesn’t disown them. (The text is packaged as a nice girly chat and – like comments I want to make about certain pictures - it’s evident that that would be too alienating in the context.)
Dita wasn't to know how outdated the following would sound only a few years later: "female submission is the last stereotype to be liberated". (Given the level of control von Teese has over her image and projects, she most certainly makes submission look voluntary not coerced.) A few years ago submssive women bloggers angrily insisted that they weren't regressive or anti-feminist, and they did seem subject to a taboo. And then there was E.L. James and all the online porn and soon representations of submissive women became uiquitous and dominant.
Whilst Dita von Teese's look is similar to queer femme, the attitudes in the text are maybe rather unexamined, to fall into jargon, and if I were responsible for kids I wouldn't want them picking up this exact take on things. But I would support her freedom to be this way, contrary to radical feminists. And I'm particularly conscious of not wanting to perpetuate a bad set of ideas I grew up with, that sex and love are only for the stupid women (not those 'like us') – something I see replicated in Goodreads reviews sometimes, where a strongfemalecharacter [tm] is berated for falling in love.
I hadn't read most of the text in this book before, and I'm less interested now than I would have been eight years ago. The writing is glossy magazine material; a little more depth would have been interesting. I’m now more steadily aware of a confusion that’s always been there somewhere; when I see these pictures, would I rather look like them, or like someone 5’10 in a suit; both impossible? And whilst I retain a few standard aesthete snobberies (no ‘loungewear’, onesies or novelty slippers, trainers only for exercise, no backpacks in town) on a personal level the Dita amount of effort now seems superfluous, and above all, tiring. Her writing is firmly fixed in her own perspective, in which looking like Dita von Teese is a 24/7 job, and no concessions. I suspect that even the most stylish people I’ve ever met don’t have such stringent standards as she does. I, as I am now, am not the audience for this book. A twentysomething who’s starting burlesque dance classes, doesn’t mind a superficial survey of the field, and who goes out a lot to venues where you can dress up in vintage / corsets probably is.
The fetish side of the book, which I was a little wary of, turned out to be more interesting than the burlesque side. Still, it is an expensive, beautifully illustrated book filled with fluffy words - caveat emptor.
I absolutely adore Dita Von Teese, and her commitment to all things burlesque and retro. This book was wonderful, and not just for the beautiful pictures and costume. There was a quite a lot of history mixed in with the how-to. I've always been fascinated with burlesque and that era of fashion. It was all about glamour 24/7. You didn't just dress up to go out, you dressed to the nines to pick up milk at the grocery store. It also explain the difference between stripping in early history, compared to today. It seems we have lost the 'tease' in striptease. What you kept on was more important than what you took off. After all, a lady never gives away everything. The other side of the book is about the fetish world, and all that it entails. There is a stigma about fetish, and that only perverts participate in this world. But everyone (yes, even you) has their fetishes. And it is not wrong to give in to these fantasies, as long as you are not hurting anyone (unless that is what your partner prefers *wink*) Either way, both sides of the book were extremely classy, and I feel like we are losing any sense of class in both stripping and fetish. Wow, that was a long review.
I'm really unsure as to how to rate this duo of books. I love Dita von Teese's style, but I don't mean that in the sense of lingerie. Rather I love seeing how put together she always looks, whether at events, in publications or simply in paparazzi pictures. I love her clothes. I love the vintage styles, the glamour and the curves. Many of the images in the book, however, really didn't appeal to me. I don't find such overt provocativeness appealing. I like subtly sexy.
Sex appeal aside, this book did have some beautiful images and an interesting history of burlesque/striptease in general. Dita's writing is intelligent and seems well informed, although it may set a few (but not all) feminist teeth on edge. Not necessarily from the lack of clothing, but from the heavy awareness of the male gaze.
The fetish section sets out, as you would expect, to essentially decriminalise fetish, to show that all kinds of things can be considered fetish, even those most people would consider fairly banal - e.g. Dita's seamed stockings. Again, some people may dislike this. When I was in my early twenties, I lived with a girl who was very into the fetish scene. At first, it was a bit disconcerting to hear the sound of whips from her room or come home and find a guy in a corset just hanging out in the living room, but I got used to it. Live and let live.
I think this could be a suitably provocative book to place on your coffee table and I don't regret the £10 I paid for it (in a Christian charity shop which tickled me). I doubt if I would read it again though.
Lots of pretty pictures in this but the written part is like a summer school prep for those ready to start burlesque or fetish 101. I liked it but it isn't an in depth look at either subject.
Visually it is stunning and I appreciated Dita's normalising of fetish and the information about Bettie Page, as I knew little about her before.
Dita is the goddess of life inspiration. I had a few hours to kill at a library and ended up picking up this book - oh boy, how I was lucky! In just a couple hours, I had a delicious lesson on Burlesque, Fetish and on accepting what makes me happy. Essentially, Dita teaches us to follow our dreams and live the life we want - even of it isn1t on this century.
This book ended up being exactly the 'feel good' push that I didn't even know I needed this week. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Dita. You are awesome.
Gorgeous photos, the book is one of those clever ones that reads from both directions: one direction is the art of burlesque and the other direction is the art of fetish. The art of fetish was by far the most interesting, but it was a great all around read.
In one section she mentions a famous lady who was romantically connected to many men, but poor writers like Oscar Wilde never got the girl. I may be able to think of one reason why Oscar Wilde “never got the girl” 😂
“In a hearing, the senator called on Dr. George W. Henry, a psychiatrist from Cornell University Medical College, to analyze data. Henry diagnosed the purpose of the one Klaw publication, Cartoon and Model Parade as meant to “stimulate people erotically in an abnormal way.” I do not know what this means.”
This is a beautiful book about Dita Von Teese. She details her fascination with burlesque and fetish, how she managed to make a career of it and some of the history. There are some suggestions about how to dress like her and what to do to become a burlesque dancer but by far the best part of this book are the beautiful pictures of Dita herself.
A gorgeous book full of drool-worthy photos of the goddess Dita von Teese. She does write a bit about the history of burlesque and fetish, beauty tips, as well as her own life. This is a great book for fans of Dita, not so much if you're looking to learn about burlesque and fetish. As it's mostly pictures, and due to its size, it's more of a coffee table book - but maybe put it away when grandma comes over for tea.
Glamorous and informative, beautiful pictures of Dita and inspiring descriptions of the history of burlesque. I have nail polish and stockings in the post
Although her line of work may not always be understood, this book is an insight into someone's passion for their craft, the lost art of glamour and the taboo field of fetishism. The book was constructed splendidly; featuring beautiful photos, history lessons, and a break down of how her art enriched her being. For the curious or the familiar of DVT, I highly recommend checking this book out.
If you don’t know Dita you just don’t know! Learn about Burly Q from the reigning 21st century queen! The photos are to die for and it’s full of info ranging from the construction of a good seamed stocking to the broads that built the empire Page, West, and more! I wanted it for burlesque but the book is flipped upside down halfway through and dedicated to Fetish and the Art of the Teese which turned out to be kind of interesting as well for someone previously unfamiliar. The pictures in the second half are gorgeous but NSFW yet safer than HBO 🤔. It’s interesting to learn about quirks without worrying you’ll stumble into something you can’t unsee/unthink 😂 get freaky safely I always say. I don’t actually but I shall now!
As a coffee table book (for a moderately daring coffee table) : it's great, full of wonderful pictures. As a treatise selling Dita's perspective on fashion/luxury: it's solid, and the writing is evocative. It all fits what she does very well.
But The history is so spectacularly rose tinted that it reads, to me, like orientalism but got a historical period, and I had real trouble looking past that.
Not gonna lie, Dita is fucking hot, sexy, and this book just accentuates this. To the nines. I won't debate her life choices, politics, or social media posts. Don't care. Dita does Dita and it works. Exceeding erotic, sensual, and sexy as fuck, for me.
Dita, Dita, Dita! A fabulous book for the fan/collector! If you are looking for a more in-depth read - get Dita's latest book, "Your Beauty Mark" to delve into her style and all things beauty! Cannot wait to get her upcoming release, "Fashioning the Femme Fatale".
A well put together biography of the two sides of Ditas public image. A little of its time but a beautiful read with some wonderful photography. A shining piece of art which will become iconic when Dita falls into history in generations to come.
I loved this book. The pictures are beautiful and you also get some information on Dita as well. If you are s Dita fan then it is a must have in your collection.
This book is full of glossy, beautiful photographs and is a lovely look into the life of Dita. It inspires you to incorporate a bit of glamour into your everyday life :) Worth every penny.
“Burlesque and the Art of the Teese” by Dita Von Teese 🍸 A stunning coffee table book with gorgeous photos of the burlesque queen Dita Von Teese. I am drawn to the pink outfits but there’s so many more fun costumes & photos inside! Lovely book A peak inside