Blowhard, Esq. writes:

As this post alluded to, I recently saw the documentary BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL, so I’ve been in a pin-up mood recently. (OK, so I’m always in a pin-up mood.) The documentary made me appreciate how, in this age of the butt-kickin’ babe and female bodybuilder, a woman like Dita Von Teese has been carrying the torch for the femme fatale and glamor girl.

Born blonde as Heather Sweet, Von Teese, whose name recalls the Euro decadence of Weimar Berlin, began as a softcore fetish model in the early 90s before making a name for herself in the pages of Playboy and Penthouse. At a time when the ideal was Monroe-desecended blondes like Anna Nicole Smith, Jenny McCarthy, and Pamela Anderson, Von Teese’s raven hair and pale skin provided a contrast by consciously recalling Bettie Page and George Hurrell’s classic studio portraits. (She looks like she’s in a black and white photo even when it’s in color.) While musical acts like the Reverend Horton Heat and Social Distortion pioneered rockabilly, Von Teese (who dated Social D’s Mike Ness) became a key figure in the burlesque revival; her influence today can be seen in sites like SuicideGirls. An entrepreneur, she has carved out a little empire by creating her own line of clothes, lingerie, stockings, and perfume. You could almost think of her as a Martha Stewart for the Kink.com set.

The gallery below the jump is NSFW, so don’t proceed if your boss has a problem with nude and naughty neo-noir dames. Happy Friday.

Related

• Dita’s official website. Her Facebook and her Twitter.
• The L.A. Weekly on how she became the most famous stripper in America.
• Dita on her favorite make-up and her new lingerie line. “I want a bra to create a voluptuous cleavage,” she says.
• Even feminist website XOJane is a fan.
• I enjoyed this TASCHEN book of Bunny Yeager pin-ups. And also this Rhino book, which contains a number of short bios of many famous pin-up movie stars and models.