Dita Von Teese has worn a corset for 22 years, her waist gets down to 16.5 inches

These are photos of Dita Von Teese shilling for Cointreau in New York City a few days ago. She looks beautiful! But I’m biased, obviously, because I love her and I want her to have all of the pretty, sparkling things in the world. Dita just turned 40 years old, although you might not know it because she’s a poster girl for taking care of your skin. To mark the occasion, Dita gave an interesting interview to Closer Mag, a UK tabloid. Which means that when she’s talking about her weight, they convert pounds into “stones”. Ugh! I hate converting “stones”.

Dita Von Teese has just celebrated her 40th birthday. And she has done so not with a silent mope over a mug of gin about getting old, but a whoop and a cheer…and the confession that she is in better shape now than she ever was in her 20s.

The American ‘Queen of Burlesque’, who was married to American rock singer Marilyn Manson from 2005 to 2007, said: ‘I have better knowledge of my body and how to treat it. Between 18 and 20 I was a few pounds heavier, as I used to drink fizzy drinks and eat fast food.’

In an interview with Closer magazine, Von Teese – who is 5ft 3in and weighs 8st 3lbs – also admitted going through a ‘party girl’ phase in the 90s.

During that time – when she was taking Ecstasy and LSD – her weight dropped to just 6.5st.

‘I got skinny,’ said the Michigan-born dancer whose real name is Heather Sweet. ‘I was worried about the way I looked but also about the impact it was having on my health. I remember seeing a picture of myself and my ribs were sticking out. That was my motivation for not doing drugs anymore.’

Von Teese, who began performing burlesque in 1992 and whose most famous routine involves her frolicking inside an enormous Martini glass, also revealed she didn’t expect to find herself where she is now, aged 40, when she was young.

‘I thought I’d be married and retired by 28. I didn’t think I’d be at the top of my career in striptease. I don’t worry about having kids and it affecting my body. I’d have to rethink things if that happened, but it wouldn’t make me any less of a woman if it didn’t.’

She confesses that she hasn’t yet drawn a line through having plastic surgery and will one day ‘probably look at lasers’.

The star explains that she maintains her tiny 22-inch waist (which can be squeezed down to 16.5in) by eating healthily, rarely drinking, avoiding bread, and drinking a vegetable smoothie made from ingredients including parsley, coriander and spinach every morning. She also exercises daily and has worn a corset since she was just 18.

Saying she feels best about herself around eight stone, the raven-haired beauty says her strict exercise regime includes Pilates, ballet, exercise videos, horse-riding and dressage, and she plans to take up fencing soon, too.

But just like the rest of us, Von Teese has several ‘cheat’ foods she can’t always resist. Crisps, crunchy sweets and Indian food feature high on her naughty-but-nice list.

[From The Mail]

Let’s see… Dita is saying that she’s currently 115 pounds, correct? (I’m using an internet stone-to-pound conversion site!). And when she was 20 years old, she was about 91 pounds. Why can’t they just say that? Why convert to “stones”? I’m not trying to be ignorant or anything – I don’t mind when I have to convert British pounds to dollars or Euros to dollars. But “stones” are the bane of my existence! *throws pity party*

Anyway, Dita sounds like she has a sort-of healthy body image. Well, as healthy as you can be if you’ve worn a corset for 22 years. Surely not every damn day, right?

And in another interview –this one with Wendy Williams – Dita confirms that she’s single. Dita told Wendy, “I am single. I have been single for a year and a half. I would like to date more age appropriately.” She also says that she doesn’t need a man to buy her diamonds, that she can buy her own. GAH! Why oh why can I not throw Robert Pattinson into her path? Seriously – they would be wonderful together.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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