Dita Von Teese in the New York Times - "What I Wore" Section - December 2011

This diary was written for the New York Times - "What I Wore" Section - December 2011
December 7th, Paris
I wake up at 5:30 in the morning in my paris apartment to catch a flight to Cologne, Germany. It's getting quite cold in Europe now, so I choose one of my favorite winter dresses, a 50s era tartan dress woven of purple, blue and black wool with a classic feminine fit and flare shape. After a delayed flight, lost time is made up when a big black car takes me straight from the plane to my hotel, and I manage to have that nap I was hoping for after all. I'm appearing on Germany's top chat show to promote my perfume, and I choose a green wool crepe one-shouldered Elie Saab dress that I've been wearing over and over for several years now. It's everything I love in a dress, beautiful fabric, an hourglass shape, the perfect below the knee hemline and best of all, timeless and worth every euro I paid for it! On the one shoulder, I pin a brooch by a fabulous designer name Larry Vrba, who is known for his huge, elaborate costume jewelry pieces, coveted by collectors like me. The design of it is centered around a deep teal-green lacquered shell, with amber rhinestones surrounding it. I wear green silk six inch round-toed pumps with a curvy heel which were orginally made for me just as a prototype by Christian Louboutin when I performed at the Crazy Horse Paris. He had designed a special shoe shape just for me, and let me choose the fabric, and I couldn't resist the roll of luscious green duchess silk in his atelier in Paris. I suppose one wouldn't think deep green shoes could be so wearable, but they've been a staple in my wardrobe since the day I got them. I wear the same dress to celebrate the success of the perfume and the good news that I can begin the process of creating my second one!


December 8th
I'm back in London to make an appearance at my Cointreau Prive pop-up bar. I'm meeting a group of longtime fans of mine, and some of them have been coming to see me in london for over 15 years. I decide to give them a sneak peek at one of my favorites from my new "Dita Von Teese Muse" dress collection, a luscious black silk velvet dress that was inspired by one of my favorite vintage dresses. It has a deep plunging décolletage, and I've always worn it with different bras to get a unique look, and so I figured it would be a great dress to showcase the made-to-be seen bras from my new lingerie collection, Von Follies! I choose my favorite piece from the collection, an overwire bra that creates a lovely plunging heart shape. I wear my classic diamond-back seamed stockings, with black lace Louboutin shoes to emulate the black lace of the bra. I wear a veiled Stephen Jones hat with little black mink pom poms, and my treasured Dior diamond ring, because I just love bright white jewels against the blackest black velvet, don't you?


December 9th
I'm headed out to the English countryside for my friend Fiona Leahy's weekend long birthday celebration. I'm wearing a sleeveless 50s "new look" era dress with a plunging neckline. It's heavy black wool with little flecks of pink, and has a slim waist and full skirt. On one very chilly Paris day, I had discovered that it looks especially nice in the wintertime with my black Diane von Furstenberg sweater underneath, so I wear it like this, with the added warmth of the sweater. I wear brand new Christian Louboutin over the knee leather boots that button up the sides like Victorian- era boots. The weekend is at an incredible countryside estate, beautifully decorated, with lots of grand taxidermy and objects of curiosity....it feels like home!

The dress code for the evening's dinner and parlor games is pajamas. Now, you must understand that I have been collecting extravagant vintage loungewear for almost twenty years, so I'm especially excited about this! I choose a royal purple silk loungewear set which has a huge silk Chinese-frog embellishment on the front and ties at the waist with a big silken cord. It's actually a reproduction of a 1940s pajama set that I have that is extremely rare and beautiful, so much that I felt a need to have it copied out of fear of anything ever happening to it! I wear a pair of mink bunny slippers that my friend Catherine D'Lish made for me for as a birthday gift. They are exquisite, with Swarovski eyes and pink silk in the insides of their ears. I've always thought she should start a business of making these glamorous slippers!


December 10th
I wake up in my stately four poster bed, I'm wearing a negligee I bought in paris. It's pale lime green silk with beautiful black Chantilly lace overlay. I hear my friends across the way in Fiona's room having breakfast, so I put on my red silk velvet dressing gown and head over for tea. A few hours later we decide that we should finally get dressed and go for a walk. I wear a Louis Vuitton tartan waistcoat from the famous Balmoral collection from a few years ago that made me absolutely crazy with lust and desire! I pair it with a slim black heavy weight wool skirt, a 40s trilby hat and my button up LouBOOTins with flat heels. When we come back, our boots are covered in mud, so after cleaning them and polishing them, I change into black thigh high leather boots which were made for me by Moschino a few years ago when I walked in their runway show in Milan. The show was inspired by the art of John Willie, so they're very retro-fetishistic boots, with round toes, six inch heels and leather covered buttons that go all the way up to the thigh. Perfect for our afternoon of ferret racing. Yes, I said ferret racing.

After the races, we warm up by the fire with mulled wine, and then retreat to our rooms to dress for the formal dinner. The theme is gold tie, but sadly I didn't get the memo until after I had packed my bags, and anyway, I decide that dressing in black only further showcases Fiona, the birthday girl and our golden girl of the hour, not that she needs any help to shine! I wear a 1940s wrap around dress I've had for years, made of black crepe with long fringe at the bottom. It's a slinky gown fit for a femme fatale, no doubt. I wear a turn of the century-era crystal belt which is about six inches tall, a real statement piece. No real need for jewels with a belt like this! I had found the buckle years ago at a flea market, and only recently got round to having it mounted on a black velvet belt. It's the first time I've ever worn it. I wear a pair of crystalized Louboutin shoes, perfect for dancing. As the night goes on and into the wee hours, I top off my look with a pair of lace Maison Michel rabbit ears....a perfect way to cover up signs of fatigue and perhaps too many cocktails!


December 11th
Today I'm on the train from London to Paris. I love the challenge of dressing glamorously for travel, and one of my best tricks is to wear a beautiful coat. One of my favorites, a coat that I wear every winter for the past and cuffs. It reminds me of a coat I once saw on display in a museum, a Dior coat from the 1950s that belonged to ballerina Margot Fonteyn. I wonder if my coat was a tribute to this original Mr. Dior coat? Could be. Underneath I wear a vintage Sant'Angelo black cashmere dress from the 80s. It's like wearing a well-fitted, figure enhancing cashmere blanket! I bought it at a fabulous store in LA called The Way We Wore. I have my trusty Goyard Miss Saigon handbag which has my monogram painted on it.

When I get to my Paris apartment, I change into a long red silk dressing gown with red tassels from the early 1900s that I'm sure belonged to an interesting woman. It's quite a slinky gown, one which I'm quite sure that no "respectable" lady from that era would have worn....! Could she have been a showgirl? A prostitute? I'm not sure, but she definitely knew a thing or two about seduction. I bought this dressing gown many years ago from a website called www.thefrock.com which is a wonderful website dealing with the very very finest in vintage haute couture. You can even purchase historic personally owned dresses of Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. There really is no other vintage website like it.

Next I dress for dinner. I'm meeting my friend Ali Mahdavi who is my favorite photographer in the world. If I had my way, he would shoot every single photo of me! He even created a contraption you can wear that gives you the perfect Dietrich lighting anywhere you go! It's a chilly but sexy night in paris, so naturally I begin my dressing ritual with my signature fully-fashioned seamed stockings. I have my own brand which are made on the 1940s era mills. I'm also test-driving my new lingerie collection, so I choose a garterbelt that I haven't tried yet to see if it can stand up to the task of keeping my seams straight all night. Six straps rather than the usual four are the trick that helps accomplish this important task. I decide to wear basic black, because Ali loves it when I keep my clothing simple and black; he says it showcases a woman's beauty by not distracting from her. I can agree with that, but mostly I choose black because I feel unstoppable when I dress as a femme fatale... I choose a pair of black Christian Louboutins, because that flash of red sole is quintessentially "fatale". I also wear a Stephen Jones face veil in black. When I was a little girl, my mother would buy me old veiled vintage hats from yard sales, and I would wear them around and dream of being a grown lady, so veiling my eyes has been a longtime obsession. If there's one thing I lament about the past, it's the fact that wearing extravagant hats was a part of everyday life. But anyway, I do like my iphone and things like that, so I'm happy it's not 1940.


December 12th
I declare today a day of domesticity at Chez Von Teese. Laundry, organizing, marketing, cooking and general home- beautification. A lot of people ask what I wear around the house. A tracksuit? Sweatpants? Do I secretly indulge in wearing jeans when no one's watching?? Hardly. But, on the flip side, am I wearing sky high boudoir slippers and a maribou-trimmed robe, Swarovski-embellished feather duster in hand? Not today, actually. Most days I wear a dressing gown around the house, but those dramatic sleeves tend to get caught on things as I rush from room to room, so today I'm wearing one of my vintage slips with one of my Wheels & Dollbaby cardigans I designed over the top. When I was in high school, I couldn't afford the latest jeans, so shopping for cheap vintage pieces was my way of being stylish. One of my favorite casual looks was to wear 50s era slips and bustiers with a black cardigan thrown over my shoulders.

When I decide to go to the market, I just throw on a forest- green 40s style Sonia Rykiel coat over the slip, put on a pair of warm Chantal Thomass black lace tights and ballet flats. I stay in my slip all afternoon until I go to my pilates class. My pilates uniform is simple; black capri leggings and a Rachel Pally fitted black t-shirt. There are no trainers in my wardrobe. In pilates, we don't wear trainers, which may be another good reason for choosing to do it rather than go jogging. I bundle up in the Sonia coat, cashmere scarf, and a pair of rubber "wellies" boots I picked up in Gstaad in February. It's hailing in Paris. Yes, hailing. And so off I go, braving a walk in the hail for the sake of my "art".

In the evening, I welcome Mr. Pearl over to my place for my signature cocktail, the Cointreauteese. Mr. Pearl is probably the friend I have that I'm asked about the most. Amongst corset-wearers and makers alike, he is legend. He's famous for making the most extravagant of corsetry for the haute couture in Paris. He is recluse. He doesn't do interviews. No one on the face of the planet can do what he does, or even figure out how he does what he does! He is responsible for the most important corsets made, from the most iconic Thierry Mugler pieces, complicated McQueen corsets and more. Now, you see, Mr. Pearl adores violets. He always brings me a bunch of violets when they are in season in the winter. He always smells of violets. He LOVES violet anything! My Cointreauteese cocktail was created as a tribute to him, with the essence of violet, so I mix the perfumed cocktail for us. I'm wearing a sleek Hervé L. LeRoux dress of deep plum jersey. I've been having a love affair with the work of Mr. LeRoux. Mr LeRoux is formerly Hervé Leger, creator of the bandage dress. He's one of those designers that lost his name and has moved on to re-form his house, and he's been dressing me in his haute couture grecian goddess dresses for almost all my red carpet events and photoshoots lately. His boutique is just next to La Duree here in Paris, so it's a favorite past time for me, to drop in on him and model dresses for him all day, then have lunch at La Duree. This plum dress is exquisite, with the jersey pin-tucked onto the curve-shaping bandage foundations he made famous. The front has a draped swag at the hip, which reminds me of the most coveted Madame Gres gowns from the 40s. I wear a simple black face veil from Stephen Jones to hide my eyes, because I'm having a bit of an allergy attack, what with all that dusting I did this afternoon! I wear my signature Secrets in Lace stockings in smoke grey with black french heels and seams, and black python Louboutin pumps. I wear a vintage Lilli Ann "princess coat" from the 50s that I bought on Ebay. I collect these nipped-waisted full skirted coats, and I've been snapping them up for years since I discovered the various similarly flattering designs she did in the 50s. I push up the sleeves and wear it with black suede elbow length gloves. The collar flips up dramatically, and I could even flip it up so that only my eyes peek out! THIS is what I love about vintage...the drama! We are off to the ballet to see the great ballerina Marie Agnes Gillot dance the role of Cinderella in the Nureyev production, which is set in 30s era Hollywood. Divine, dancing, divine sets...but Mr. Pearl, who has worked with the ballet creating some of the most glorious jeweled tutus EVER does not approve of the all-too prevalent use of lycra and unitards. Nor do I. But Marie Agnes is astonishing, and the orchestra is enveloping.

When I get home, I slip into a 1920s black lace slip with little peach silk ribbon rosettes embroidered onto it. Yes, I'm in bed alone, but life's too short not to do what you can to feel good, no?


December 13th
This afternoon I visit with my friend Betony Vernon in her beautiful secret lair which is dubbed "Eden". Betony is a sensualist in the highest sense of the word, an unbelievable beauty and talent, an amazonian redhead that is the epitome of both elegance and eroticism. She is my seduction and sex- guru. On this afternoon, I am picking up a ring that she has made for me, a ring of platinum and pearls which looks sublimely glamorous and sophisticated, yet doubles as an erotic accoutrement. I just love disguised objects of fetishism. Betony is the master of this art. Or shall I say..."Mistress"? I'm wearing my "V.I.P." coat from my Muse clothing collection. I love this coat, it's a bit of a tribute to my favorite full-skirted Lilli Ann 50s coats. My idea in designing it was to have the perfect coat-dress for any season, but I also wanted it to wear with nothing but stockings and garters on for a cut-to-the-chase seduction moment. It's "Betony-approved" and I slip on my new ring and wonder when I will decide to use it first.

Later on, my friend Alexis Mabille comes over to do a fitting for the tuxedo he has designed for the latest incarnation of my martini glass act. The tux is fitted over a very tight, sculptural Mr. Pearl corset, so it takes many fittings and toiles to get the fit just right. We started the process earlier in the fall, and it should be ready by in January. Haute couture takes time!

After the fitting, Alexis and I go to dinner together, but I've also got a romantic rendezvous organized with a special someone afterwards, so I choose a simple black dress with black lingerie from my Von Follies collection which comes out next spring. Ladies, listen up! Black stockings and garters are THE best example of exactly how to be both elegant and erotic at the same time. I'm still surprised to hear men say things like "I've never actually seen these in real life before..." So, please, girls, show him something he's never seen before, because I can't get to all of them. And it's more economical than pantyhose anyway! Run one stocking and you just switch it out for another from that second package you were so wise to buy, but run those pantyhose and you're screwed! Straight to the trash with those luxurious and expensive pantyhose you bought! The dress I wear is vintage, probably 60s, and it's a perfect black sheath dress that I had tailored to perfection, and it has an adorable "Made in the USA" label that says "Mam'selle". Perfect for Paris, non? I wear sky- high black silk Louboutins that have round toes and ankle straps. There's something about ankle straps that make me feel especially salacious...they remind me of Helmut Newton models and high paid-call girls. That red sole only adds to the fantasy. I'm fairly certain there isn't a high-paid call girl in the world that doesn't own a pair of Louboutins. It's Helmut Newton's fault that I have an obsession with what high-paid call girls might wear.

Anyway, I would love to tell you more about my night, but I can't, so my "What I Wore" week concludes right here with black seamed stockings and garters, the very foundation of my wardrobe!

http://www.dita.net/wiw.php