Hot Dita von Teese: "Burlesque Was About the Striptease"

Famed burlesque performer Dita von Teese is known for being very recluse when it comes to her private life - and for good reason. Being a ground-breaking performer doing her best to resurrect a refined and seemingly long-lost art that's most based on subtlety and mystery, von Teese is obviously not in the habit of pouring her heart out to anyone. A shroud of mystery is often a better hook for the audience than any spectacular or revealing stage costume - and if anyone in today's showbiz knows the meaning of "subtle", it's Dita von Teese. So when this sexy lady sits down for an interview with the New York Times and talks about her private and professional life, the world would do better to listen.

When asked about her divorce from controversial rocker Marilyn Manson, von Teese - who usually avoids the topic - revealed that there is a long list of reasons for which she's glad their marriage is over. "I am happy to have the drugs out of my life," she states, also adding "I took my engagement diamond and had it transformed in Paris into a beautiful ring. It's nice; it's big. I feel like I suffered greatly for that diamond, and it needed to be reborn into something better."

As for her current life, von Teese describes it as generally quiet - apart from the jetting out all over the world to perform, she enjoys spending time at home with her pets and her many vintage collections. "I collect in a crazy way" she reveals. "I have at least 15 collections. I collect vintage hair combs; vintage clothes; vintage lingerie; hats; jewelry; cigarette holders." However, she treasures her hat collection most. "When I look at them I can't believe these are things that women wore on the street every day. They are dramatic and distinctive," she says.

In what concerns the art of burlesque which she has struggled to revive, she admits that people still have a lot of misconceptions about it. People think "that [burlesque] is about dancing around in hot pants with feather boas" when in fact "burlesque was about the striptease. The stars of burlesque took their clothes off, end of story, period," Dita insists. She also points out that her art is not a show she puts on for the benefit of the audience, but a way of life - however, she's not taking it to unreasonable extremes. "I'm not technically a tight lacer. It's a fetish, in which you wear extremely tight corsets all the time. I don't sleep in my corsets, and I'm not obsessed with obtaining the world's smallest waist. My waist is around 18 inches," Dita says.