What
I love about Dita Von Teese as a model is her ability and
interest to reference the past—particularly American
cultural history as it relates to the sexploitation/fetish
era, which means both burlesque and what was then, in the
1950s, labeled as "bizarre," now simply called
fetish.
Most often
she's still referred to as a burlesque performer because
the term "burlesque" in post-porn America has
taken on a soft, even sweet, connotation; while "fetish"—
still being associated with some form of mental illness,
possibly Devil worship, in the minds of some—summons
all sorts of mass market disapproval.
But for
anyone familiar with the history of sexploitation/fetish
artifacts, it's obvious to see where her real talent lies.
Make no mistake, Dita IS a fetishist: take note of her waistline,
which should make clear that she indulges in some form of
body modification as might be suggested in the book, MODERN
PRIMITIVES, a landmark noted for igniting the ink and piercing
subculture of the 1990s, which has long since broken into
the mainstream.
As most
people know, Dita (aka Heather Renee Sweet) studied set
and costume design in college and began her career by referencing
the founding fetish queen: Bettie Page.
Like Bettie,
Dita had to earn a living, so she did cheesecake work, often
sporting a retro hairdo for mainstream photo shoots.
But, like Bettie's "Dark Angel" incarnation, it's
the more mysterious, vaguely European influenced fetish
art that remains of greater interest to me—rooted,
as it is, in some dark psychosexual truth, which is as natural
as night is to day, the moon is to the sun and which underscores
the more feral (and least understood) impulses of human
sexuality.
Here's my recently updated personal collection of Dita Von
Teese sexploitation/fetish artifacts, which includes several
DVDs. To see Dita perform in some early videos she did for
Marquis is a real treat; she's tranquil, charismatic and
mesmerizing to watch: truly a graceful, centered and beautiful
Dark Angel.
© 2011 Richard Perez
More
Dita from my private collection:
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Dolores & Serena:
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