DITA VON TEESE
Regan/Harper Collins, New York *****
This coffee-table tome is yet more evidence of Dita’s successful transition from subculture queen to mainstream celebrity. And it could so easily have been a complete whitewash, focusing on her acceptable face (upmarket burlesque artist, Gaultier model, rock’n’roll wife etc) while drawing a veil over her earlier career as a fetish and bondage model.
So all credit to her for being true enough to her roots (which, she reveals, are blonde) to offer up both sides of her personality for scrutiny in this unusual double-cover, half-and-half hardback.
Basically, what we have here is two books that start from opposite ends and meet in the middle. Each is a mix of relevant autobiographical detail (how she discovered fetish; how she got into burlesque performance, etc); historical contextualisation (how/why burlesque developed; the influence on her of the likes of Bettie Page and Betty Grable); and tips on how to achieve certain desirable female goals with hair, make-up, clothes, accessories and attitude.
The quality of photography throughout is a testament not just to how camera-friendly Dita is, but also how versatile for someone often supposed to have just one, albeit distinctive, personal style.
In all, it’s a charming confection, presented in the vampish language you’d expect from a professional vamp. But there are enough glimpses beneath the glamour to make it more than just froth. You can’t help but like a girl who owns up that, today, if not for a fortuitous Playboy typo, we’d all be calling her Dita Von Treese. TM (Reviewed Mar 06)
www.reganbooks.com
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