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Dita Von Teese & The Art of the Teese Interview

She epitomizes glamour and femininity. She'll mesmerize you with her talent and on February 25th, the Queen of Burlesque will seduce Atlanta.

Burlesque icon, Dita Von Teese has created a new show that will undoubtedly sizzle, sparkle and shine in all of its designer glitz.

Dita Von Teese and I recently chatted about her new production, cleverly titled, The Art of the Teese, and she revealed many of the fabulous details about the show, performances and designer fashion behind it. Dita spoke about how much she loves Atlanta and she hopes on staying a day or so after the show just to explore and shop. Where will the 'Glamour Girl' go??

Other topics of conversation included the scoop on her third book, which you're going to want to get and we talked about Dita's lingerie label.

fashionado: It's lovely to hear your voice. You're very visual so it's nice to hear you speak.

Dita Von Teese: Visual and shy.

fashionado: You're shy?

Dita Von Teese: Yes, I'm shy about some things but not about others. I have my shy moments for sure and other times not. Going out on stage - I'm never shy about that.

fashionado: Are you glamorous 24/7?

Dita Von Teese: Well that's up for debate. When I'm in my 'glamorous robe,' in my 'glamorous home,' but I don't have any make-up on and I don't know what my hair looks like... But I do have rules, like not leaving the house a mess. I believe in pulling myself together for a number of reasons. I believe in elegance and how it relates to manners and how you present yourself to the world.

fashionado:Tell us all about "The Art of the Teese." From what I understand it's your biggest production. It must be very exciting for you.

Dita Von Teese: Yes, we came to Atlanta for the for time a few years ago with my other show and I feel like there's been a really big resurgence with burlesque in general. When I came out with my book, I discovered that there were so many new fans that had never heard of burlesque before and anxiously wanted to see what it is all about. This was one of the the reasons I decided to create a new show and bring it out on the road. We toured with my other show successfully for five years and we thought how can we capture the same spirit of that show and breathe new life into it. So there are some classic acts revisited and there are new cast members and some new numbers for me as well. You'll love this one even more!

Atlanta is full of cool people, fashionable people, stylish people who totally get what I'm doing. I love it there.

fashionado: On the fashion, style and glamour front, what can we expect from The Art of the Teese?

Dita Von Teese: One of the things I have, that is going to be new in the show is... I'm bringing an act called Lazy that I originally staged for the Crazy Horse in Paris, so I decided to bring that show back in a new way with my male back up dancers and I have new costumes by designer Jenny Packham. She's making very beautiful, all new costumes. Christian Louboutin is doing all new shoes. He and I work together and he sketches out ideas for the show and will make a couple different styles for each number that are interchangeable incase I need a higher pair or lower pair depending on the floor. My friend Catherine D'lish who's also a performer in the show has created these most extravagant Swarovski crystal spectacles. She's famous for making the most opulent and dazzling crystalized costumes you've ever seen.

fashionado: I love all things shiny and glittery! And feathers... I'm a huge fan of feathers!

Dita Von Teese: Oh you'll love this one corset - It's entirely covered in little itty bitty tiny feathers, the craftsmanship is amazing!

fashionado: I have to say, I love that on your website you feature two separate webpages; one for the Femme Fatale and another for the Glamour Girl... The blue dress you are wearing on the Glamour Girl cover page is stunning. Who is it by?

Dita Von Teese: That dress is from the golden age of Dior haute couture. It's by John Galliano, one of his very best from one of his amazing shows. That dress travels in a huge wooden crate! It's incredible. It's like one of the most amazing dresses I've ever seen. I actually wore several dresses from that collection. For me he's the height of glamour when it comes to designers.

fashionado: You have a third book out?

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Dita Von Teese: Yes! It's 380+ pages and it's called "Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour" and I basically put every beauty secret I had in there. It's an inspiring read with lots of photos and interviews from some of my "glambassadors" as I call them. It took me five years to write it because I wanted to add more and add more. I'm very proud of it.

fashionado: Your passion for burlesque began with a fascination for lingerie, is that correct?

Dita Von Teese: Yes lingerie and 1940s and 50s Hollywood movies because my mother liked to watch those movies. I grew up watching those films with my mom and I have a fascination with lingerie for some reason - don't really know how it started. Could be from those movies or my mom's lingerie drawer but for me it became a rite of passage to womanhood and I never forgot that. It still does that to me now which is why I have a lingerie collection today. It's been an ongoing fascination. My first pin-up photos were taken because I have an obsession with lingerie and wearing it and showing it off.

fashionado: So what is your favorite lingerie brand?

Dita Von Teese: Well my own of course! (LOL) I have to say that my entire lingerie drawer has been converted to everything designed by me. I have a lot of designers that I admire but I put them all away and from this point on I am wearing only my own brand of lingerie. We've had the collection for about five years and you can find it at Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and Bare Necessities. The new collection comes out this Spring.

Speaking with Dita was a delight. Such a lovely person. Dita will be performing live in Atlanta on February 25th at the Tabernacle. Tickets. For tickets in other cities visit: artoftheteese.com

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