When you think of Dita Von Teese, you likely think of her iconic beauty look: pale skin, dyed blue-black hair, red lips and nails, and her tattooed beauty mark.
But every year for Halloween, Dita makes the most dramatic transformation of all. She abandons her dramatic cat eye, takes off her sky-high heels, and turns into… a normal girl.
That's right. Every Halloween, Dita transforms into her blonde, faux-tanned, nude-glossed evil twin, DINA.
"I’ve done it three times over the past few years and everyone cracks up," Dita told The Cut last year. "Even my friends don’t recognize me. It’s fun and funny but it’s too much work… It’s really weird washing off all the beige. It is so much makeup with all of the highlighter, bronzer, and gloss. I can’t bear it."
Dita calls her Ugg-booted, undone blowout, alter-ego "An interesting psychological experiment." I call it "The best thing I've ever seen."
Dita considers her signature vintage style a suit of confidence armor. "I was a blonde girl from a farm town in Michigan," she says. "But when I dyed my hair black and did a cat-eye and red lipstick, I got attention. I could ask for what I wanted and and say no to people. It made me more powerful. Glamour has a power to transform."
But as Dina, in her distressed jeans and basic drapey tank top, Von Teese notices a shift in how she thinks of herself — and how other people relate to her. "I feel like I have my confidence taken away from me," she explains. "It’s totally different. I lose all my VIP privileges. Strange men try and approach me. It’s really weird washing off all the beige."
Dita has done this "normal" drag for four years now — and shared some throwback shots on her Instagram story.
Of course Dina is a messy, drunk Cubs fan.
Of.
Course.
Signed, someone who used to live in Chicago, and avoided Wrigley Field on game days like the goddamned plague.
But don't interpret this costume as a dig at you, if you prefer the lipgloss and bronzer look.
Because she's a consummate beauty-lover, Dita isn't one to shade other people for their personal style — even if it's one she doesn't share. But she is making a point about how we perceive beauty… especially "natural" beauty.
While beige and brown eye shadow and a messy blowout might SEEM more low-key than Dita's cat eye, the truth is, it's no less intense. "While you are blowing out your hair straight, I’m putting mine in hot rollers," she says. "I’m not wearing any more makeup. In some cases, I’m actually wearing less makeup than those who wear “natural” makeup. It’s just a different color."
Shake it, Dita — this "normal girl" costume is EVERYTHING.
Rock that messy topknot, Dina.
