Dita Von Teese

Profession: Burlesque Model
Place/Date of Birth: Michigan, USA, 28 September 1972

"She said she has some vintage furs she wears occasionally," said spokesman Michael McGraw.

"PETA often works with a celebrity on an issue they feel comfortable supporting, whether it’s supporting spaying and neutering, or speaking out against products that are tested on animals. So they may not be an animal rights activist, but their contribution to any of our campaigns is appreciated."

Dita’s man demands - July 4 2007
Dita Von Teese has apparently revealed what she is looking for in a man.

The burlesque dancer, who recently split with goth rocker Marilyn Manson, told the Sun: "There are lots of things that I would not like in my next relationship. But I would like to be with someone who is maybe a little bit more even-tempered, or someone with good manners.

"Maybe not someone who is ’nice’ - that isn’t really the word - but someone who says please and thank you, is even-tempered and doesn’t break all of the windows in the house. That would be cool."

The 34-year-old, who has been named "the queen of burlesque" filed for divorce last December, just 12 months after marrying Marilyn.

Last week, she performed a raunchy routine on a giant bucking bronco-style red lipstick, in London at the Mac Viva Glam party in front of a star-studded audience.

Dita’s cowgirl glam - June 28 2007
Dita Von Teese pulled on some pink sequins - before throwing them off again - to wow a celeb crowd with the showcase of her new burlesque routine Lipteese.

The glamorous star was performing at the MAC Aids Fund party in London, watched by stars including Steve Tyler, Rosario Dawson and Jesse Metcalfe, who shows no sign of packing up his partying ways post rehab.

And of course a party isn’t a party without a sighting of at least one of the Geldofs - fortunately, Pixie was on hand to do the honours and spent most of the evening talking animatedly to Donny Tourette.

Beautiful gold painted cowboys mingled with fashionistas, drag queens and girls dressed 40s style in homage to the burlesque star.

Dressed in a pink sequinned cowgirl outfit and armed with two guns, Dita performed her legendary striptease before mounting a giant bucking and spinning lipstick.

Elsewhere Paul O’Grady looked on top form while the carefully coiffeured The Horrors wandered around looking suitably sullen.

Dita, who divorced Marilyn Manson earlier this year, is spokesperson for the MAC Aids Fund and the new face of Viva Glam Lipstick.

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Biography

Famed for her bountiful body and bringing burlesque back into the fashionable mainstream, it was her rocky relationship to Marilyn Manson that brought Dita Von Teese international recognition.

Originally hitting the stage at the tender age of 13, Dita started her training as a classical ballet dancer and continues to use techniques such as en pointe in her shows today.

Her mother, a Golden-era Hollywood fan, and 1940’s actresses such as Betty Grable, first inspired Ditas trademark 1940’s retro attire. It’s rumoured that her passion for elaborate undergarments stems from glimpsing images in her father’s Playboy magazines. In her teens she went on to work at a lingerie store where she bought her first corset, whilst at college she trained as a costume designer.

At nineteen, Dita branched out into the world of strip joints and glamour modelling, before eventually dipping her toe into world of fetishism. Her retro look caught a lot of attention, as did her notoriety as a ‘tightlacer’ – corseting her waistline down to a tiny 16 and half inches. She appeared in a number of fetish magazines as well as bound and partially suspended for the book cover of ‘The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage’.

In 1999 her career came full circle as she posed for Playboy.

Dubbed ‘The Queen of Burlesque’, Dita demonstrates that rare quality of being a sexual icon for both men and women. Her appearances in men’s mags such as Playboy are coupled with her popularisation of New Burlesque, which has been championed by women as an opportunity to reclaim their sexuality through a seductive and powerful medium.

Her shows have become famous for their props and routines, including giant martini glasses, feather fans and carousel horse.

She began dating Marilyn Manson in 2001, Manson proposed in 2004 with a 1930s 7-carat diamond ring, and they were wed in 2005. Despite the celebrity furore surrounding the couple, the marriage was short lived with Dita filing for divorce in 2006. She maintains that the breakdown occurred due to Manson’s continued drug use and on going extra marital relationship with Evan Rachel Wood.

January 2008