pocket venus: dita von teese

elle.com: Dita Von Teese Clarifies: She’s Not a Dumb Stripper

Dita Von Teese Clarifies: She’s Not a Dumb Stripper
by Rebecca Willa Davis
February 13, 2012

Dita Von Teese might be known for her impeccable look, but compared to a lot of celebrities, she’s anything but high-maintenance. “To be honest, I don’t put a lot of effort into [dressing for events]. I never really know what I’m going to wear until right before,” admitted the burlesque star before the Zac Posen show. “For certain red carpet events I take time to plan out what I’m going to wear in advance, but generally I just throw things on. I don’t have a stylist so I do my own hair and makeup, put on an outfit, and that’s it—it’s not a big production to me.”

You’d never guess it: her sculpted plum dress fit her to a T; her shiny, onyx hair was perfectly curled; it looked like someone spent hours painting her lips crimson. But just add it to the long list of things that Von Teese is good at—along with performing as a guest star in the play Sleep No More. “I’ve been obsessed with it for a year—I’ve flown out from L.A. to NY just to see it seven times! [I said,] ‘I’ll do anything to be in your show!’”

Is it ever strange to Von Teese that she’s surrounded by starlets who have a team of people overseeing their looks? “I don’t want to judge people—I guess it’s part of their career, maybe they don’t have the time—but I really like the satisfaction I get from creating my own red carpet looks and doing my hair and makeup,” she said. “When people say that I’m just a dumb stripper, I’m thinking, wow, but you’re really giving accolades to these stylists, hair, and makeup people that get everybody turned out and I’m holding my own up there?”

Pausing for a moment, Von Teese added, “So yeah, I have talents! They’re just not really appreciated when you’re not doing it on other people.”