Dita Von Teese on Makeup, Waist Training, and What She Really Wears Around the House

Dita Von Teese always does her own makeup. (Photo: It! Books/Harper Collins)

You may know Dita Von Teese as that pale woman with a pin-up look who was once married to Marilyn Manson. But the 43-year-old, born a blonde girl named Heather Sweet in West Branch, Michigan, is not a gimmick. She’s a talented woman who revived the lost art form of burlesque and has spent her life celebrating her childhood passion: Mimicking the glamorous Hollywood actresses she watched in movies from the 1940s. Frustrated with the unrealistic ideals of modern day models, Von Teese always appreciated the way women of the past put great effort into their appearance rather than relying on genetics. As a woman who does her own hair and makeup for the red carpet, has created her own new lipstick with MAC Cosmetics, she includes many fascinating anecdotes and tips about glamour and confidence in her new book, “Your Beauty Mark.” I caught up with the star to uncover her stance on surgery, her grooming secrets, and if she maintains her image behind closed doors.

Joanna Douglas: In your book you say, “Beauty is my art, it’s my nourishment, my salvation.” How does beauty fuel and empower you?

Dita Von Teese: Growing up as a blond girl from a farming town in Michigan, there was a lot of emphasis on natural, all-American beauty, but I wanted to be exotic! I always liked the idea of being a little bit like self-created and creating a persona the way that my favorite icons of 1940s and 1950s Hollywood did.

What is it about those old icons that you prefer to contemporary beauty looks?

In modern times, there’s such emphasis on the beauty you’re born with, yet the women that we’re told are the most beautiful women in the world are on the covers of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue or the Victoria’s Secret supermodels. I don’t think there’s very many of us that can really achieve that kind of beauty! There’s also a certain kind of body or skin tone that’s held to be the standard of beauty, and I just never felt like I could fit in to that. I like the idea of glamour because it’s not dependent on how young you are or how much money you have or even how pretty you are.

Did you ever dream that you would ever have the glamorous life that you had as a kid?

No, I mean, I remember being a little girl and thinking that I couldn’t wait to be a grownup lady and I had all these plans of how my life was going to be: I was going to wear red lipstick, I was going to dress like a lady. I had always wanted was to grow up and be a woman and be able to play with the tools of glamour.

Dita Von Teese, born Heather Sweet, pictured in 1990. (Photo: Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library)

What made you want to have dark hair and when did you start dyeing it?

We always want what we don’t have. With my hair color, I was very dishwater-blonde and I liked the idea of being exotic and so I first dyed my hair around ‘91 or '92. I went red first, then went burgundy, and then I dyed it black because I had seen a movie with Louise Brooks and Clara Bow and I really loved that look. I loved the contrast of like black and white and red lips.

People may not know that your beauty mark is a tattoo. Are you still as happy with it today as you were when you got it?

Yeah! Jean Harlow always had a beauty mark, and it moved around, so I always used to draw one on because I thought it was a hallmark of glamour in my mind. One day, when I was maybe 19, I went to a rockabilly tattoo shop in Orange County and I asked the tattoo artist to make a little star. He said to me, “I am not putting a star on your face.” I’m grateful for the words of wisdom from that person.

I saw your mother was a manicurist. Is this why you always seem to have perfect nails?

Yeah, she worked out of our home when I was a little girl and I always loved watching her. Since I was a teenager I always wanted my nails done perfectly and I can’t imagine not having my nails done. I started wearing my nails in the half moon manicure in 1992. I noticed some early portraits of the stars from the '30s and '40s and I would bring those photos in to my mom and asked her to replicate the look.

Dita Von Teese shares her beauty tips in her new book. (Photo: It! Books/Harper Collins)

Your skin is very fair now, and I know you work hard to protect it. Did you used to go out in the sun more as a kid?

My high school sweetheart of five years was a lifeguard and a surfer. When I was 15, I would always hang out with him on the beach and try to get a tan, and then when I was a sophomore in high school I remember shifting my beliefs and thinking, "I’m just going to be proud of the thing that makes me different from all these other girls that I go to school with in Orange County.”

When’s the last time you went out in public without your signature beauty look?

I go out in public a lot without a full face of makeup. But I always have a sweep of face powder and red lipstick and I usually put on sunglasses and put my hair into a simple chignon. It’s still keeping in line with my code of glamour, but it’s my five minute look to get out the door.

What about when you’re hanging around the house?

If I am spending the entire day at home I will probably just slather my lips in a lip moisturizer and take a break. In terms of clothes, I’ve always loved and collected vintage, 1930s and ’40s dressing gowns and pajamas. I love finding ways of being comfortable and glamorous at the same time, and my new loungewear collection is very much that style. Sometimes I admittedly hang out in my Pilates clothes, which is a sort of uniform of black capri stretch pants and a slim fit T-shirt and ballet flats.

Do you do you hair and makeup yourself for appearances and red carpet?

I do! The only time I have someone do my hair professionally is for certain important photo shoots where I can’t do it all. I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing a beauty book if I couldn’t, if I didn’t do all that myself. I feel like that’s part of my job or my “talent.”

MAC’s new Von Teese lipstick. (Photo: MAC Cosmetics)

And you have a new collaboration with MAC, congratulations! I have read before that you’re a fan of their lipsticks.

Yeah I’ve been MAC Viva Glam for two years and I loved that experience — it was such a great way to raise a really significant amount of money with lipstick and I loved that. Their reds are some of my favorites, so when they asked me about doing a lipstick to support the book I was really thrilled. I’ve always loved MAC Ruby Woo because it’s a super matte, long-wearing red lipstick that’s easy for anyone to wear, and the one that they created for me is called Von Teese and it’s a very matte, pink-toned red.

Awesome. And you always have kind of the perfect, cat eye flick. What’s your go-to liner?

I like using MAC Black Track with like a simple brush.

How do you fill in your brows?

I use Just For Men hair color because you can squeeze out a little pea sized amount on the developer and the color and mix it together. I use like an angled brow brush and put it on exactly the way I would fill in my brows. It kind of cuts your beauty routine down, because you don’t have to do your eyebrows.

Very cool! How about a favorite hairspray?

I love hairspray! My favorite it Tigi Bed Head Masterpiece. It’s super strong.

You said in your book that you got breast implants. What is your stance on plastic surgery and Botox?

We all want to know each other’s beauty secrets but no one really wants to reveal them because they get vilified so easily…I think everyone has a right — I don’t condone it and I’m not against it. I feel like it’s just a really extreme form of beauty that is right for some people, and I think what makes people happy is the right thing to do. What I don’t agree with is people trying to fit in to society’s ideals of glamour and using plastic surgery to try to like please someone else.

Waist training has become such a big thing now. With the Kardashians all endorsing it, a lot of young people are trying it. Do you think there’s a safe way to do it?

I’ve been wearing corsets for more than 25 years, and I was always obsessed with the corset as this exotic piece of lingerie that can shape the body in an interesting way. If you want to learn more about corset training or wearing a corset, there are corset makers and corset aficionados that have been in business for decades and decades, and I would advise looking to those kinds of people rather than celebrities that just, like, heard about it. The way to do it right is to have it made to fit your proportions and fit your body and fit around your rib cage, and there’s different ways of corseting for different types of figures. So I think that’s something that should be custom-made.

Dita Von Teese is known for wearing intricate lingerie during her burlesque acts. (Photo: Getty Images)

One of your first jobs was at a lingerie store and now you have your own lingerie line. What did you learn about undergarments and the body so young?

I learned a lot about women’s preferences and shapes, respecting people’s preferences. I also love lingerie because you kind of have a secret persona under your clothes. Whatever your style is, however conservative you are, underneath your clothes you can be someone totally different. It’s obviously a great tool of seduction but really my relationship with lingerie has always been about it being a rite of passage of womanhood and symbolic of femininity. Ultimately you shouldn’t put it on for someone else, you should wear it for yourself.

Are there any pieces you think that every woman should own?

A great set of black lace lingerie, because it looks great on every woman of every age, of every ethnicity. It’s classic, elegant, timeless, and erotic. And I always say, when you buy a great-fitting bra that’s beautiful, you should always buy more than one pair of the underwear, especially different shapes, so you have more versatility and also because you wear the underwear twice as much, so it prolongs the life of the set. And even further, I’d say try a garter belt and stockings. It’s really another thing that’s really sexy but also classic.

Are you still performing a lot?

I had a bit of a hiatus on performing, but I’m working on a couple things that I’m going to announce very soon, so I’m very excited about that. I also do a lot of private and corporate events, but what I really love is touring and doing shows for the fans and the ticket holders. I have a show called “Strip, Strip, Hooray!” which is like a full-length, 90-minute revue that celebrates diversity in burlesque, and it’s a really fun tour.

Has your family been supportive of your burlesque career?

Not always. It was very difficult when I first started in the early '90s. Burlesque was not a buzzword, and it was very difficult to explain to my family what I was doing. But my mother was always supportive, and my father came around when I started getting more mainstream attention — that helped a lot. I think he understood more what I was trying to do.

People who don’t know you may think this is all an act, but it’s clearly a lifestyle. What would you say to them?

It was a childhood obsession, and I can’t really imagine being any other way. You may think that I just trot around in high heels all day and watch old movies and live in another era, but I don’t, and really there’s a lot more to it than that.

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