From her exquisitely constructed costumes to the sumptuously tuned lighting, Dita’s stage performances are triumphs in the art of beauty—and perfection. She and her team leave no Swarovski crystal unturned in making sure that everything is ne plus ultra for the audiences who are paying good money to see her.

With the manuscript for the beauty book I wrote with Dita officially in the hands of our affable editor at Harper Collins as of Monday (yeah!), I can finally share some highlights from the opening night last week of her first U.S. tour, “Strip, Strip Hooray!” the variety show with an emphasis on variety.

Make no mistake: Dita is well aware that burlesque is not just about pretty girls taking it all off for the crowd. Her shows thread elements of vaudeville, specifically in the case of the wisecracking host, the drag king extraordinaire known as Mr. Showbiz, Murray Hill. The gender-bending nod is even extended with the debonair boylesque performer Monsieur Romeo.

Variety, too, is highlighted in the curves and crowns of fellow performers and friends. From the 48-inch hips of the delectable riot Dirty Martini to the lithe tall drink that is the rubber-skinned Russian Lada, there is some body for everyone. New Orleans star Pearle Noir summons Josephine Baker and is a marvel.

Besides seeing Dirty again, whom I’ve adored forever, it’s wonderful to see other great pioneers of the neo-burlesque scene, including the Liliputian Selene Luna doing her mini motorcycle act and the return of voluptuous Catherine D’Lish. The redheaded Catherine has a new spiderweb act on this tour which is simply amazing; she’s also a longtime pal of Dita’s and designer-seamstress of some of her most memorable costumes over the years. A talent!

Dita opens with her signature act, which actually exists as a handful of versions, each with its own twinkling, colossal glass for her to ultimately bathe in. For this tour, it’s the “Swarovski Martini,” named so because the prop glass is studded in more than 250,000 crystals by the Austrian heritage brand which produces the best sparklers in the world. Dita channels Marlene Dietrich in her new Alexis Mabille tuxedo (I covet!), sings a pre-recorded tune (that IS her voice, kids!), then strips off to the most marvelous new lace-up corset…and, of course, finally down to nothing more than a crystal-covered G-string and stars over her rosebuds.

Few millimeters of fabric, shoes, furnishings or props go without the Swarovski treatment, in fact. The massive powder compact that Dita springs forth from in another act is awash in crystals, inside and out; during the “Rhinestone Cowgirl” act, everything from the mechanical bull’s longhorns to the chaps and custom-made Christian Louboutin boots are blanketed in pink crystals. The effect is so blindingly startling—even among those of us familiar with Dita’s performances, not to mention a flood of crystal accessories in our own wardrobes—that it’s physically impossible for jaws not to drop.

Ah, about those Louboutins…Dita’s struts and dances en pointe in iconic red soles custom-made by her good pal throughout the show. New to this tour are the beautiful satin blue pointe shoes—complete with red soles, natch!—that Christian made and rushed to her in time for the opening night show. She shows them and her ballet abilities off in “The Powder Puff Pin-Up” act.

Dita also takes a spin en pointe as an exotic dragon lady in the climactic “Opium Den” finale. For this act, the spectacular gown was made by Catherine D’Lish and the fan, underpinnings and headdress conceived and crystalized by our equally talented friend Michael Schmidt (who is madly working on costumes now for Madonna’s upcoming tour).

As of this writing Dita and troupe are en route from San Diego to Las Vegas. If they’re hitting your town and you’ve never seen her before, GO. If you have seen her before, GO.

Take it from a veteran of her shows, it’s worth the price of admission.

All photographs featured here are by Kaylin Idora and courtesy of DMGLA.

Next up: A few snapshots of my own after the show…

Vidal helped London swing. As the 1960s waned, a new decade shifted the torch to Los Angeles, where the possibilities to break the rules and redefine life made it a richly creative, free-spirited and exciting place for those who understood them.

Booth gathered a few tales from pals such as fellow style icon/Vidal muse Peggy Moffitt, style publicist Anne Crawford, Beverly Hills salon manager Etienne Taenaka and yours truly. Peggy’s memories for the feature are especially priceless.

It’s a dream boutique, showcasing some of the most creative, edgy and arty folks on the west coast—and all on the east side of L.A.. Among the three dozen fashion, beauty, food and interior artisans to check out are A+R fave Christie Frields of Baron Family Jewels, as well as Me and Arow, All for the Mountain, the Juice Maids and Moon Canyon Flowers. The weekend event opens today, Saturday.

See you there!

Echo Park Craft Fair, May 12+13, 1461 Carrol Avenue, Los Angeles 90029. Open 1 to 5 p.m.

Some of our conversations took place in an official capacity, interviews for an article or other project, as in the case of my last book, part bio on Fred Hayman, part sweeping history of Beverly Hills, of which he played such a key role with the opening of his salon and by relocating to the city from swinging London.

In Chapter 12, I featured a fabulous vintage photo by Duffy-Marie Arnoult of Vidal and his second wife Beverly, with whom he had four children. Retelling the glory days of the after-hour clubs The Daisy, owned by fashion retailer Jack Hanson (Peggy Moffitt, Vidal’s former muse, was a sales girl at his legendary Jax shop) and its rival, the Candy Store, opened by actor Tony Curtis and hair star Gene Shacove (the inspiration, years later, of the Warren Beatty character in his film “Shampoo”) underneath Gene’s salon, Vidal recalled:

“[Gene] had a wonderful salon as well as a nightclub all going in the one building. It was really great fun, really sensational looking people,” he recalled, in his smoky, measured voice. The London scissor star came to Hollywood, cementing his status as a household name after lopping off Mia Farrow’s locks. He opened his own signature salon there in Beverly Hills in 1969. Though he and his then-wife Beverly and their growing family planted roots in town, Sassoon’s fledgling empire kept him there “just about half the year. We were traveling with the new product line. We had hair salons in New York and London. I had to be in all those places, so I never stayed as long as I personally would have liked. But when we were there we got to know it all. It was an awakening for the area. There was Amelia Gray and places like that for the ladies. But here was a wave of places you wanted to visit.”

Vidal shared other memories, great insight. But it was his final take on Fred Hayman, which appeared in Chapter 22, that was not only generous. They were words that could be spoken by any one of us about Vidal Sassoon himself:

“See the difference between Fred and all the others is longevity,” explained Vidal Sassoon. “Not only did he have great style, it was Fred’s drive that made Rodeo Drive. When everybody else died out and was gone, Fred was still there. And it was Fred who encouraged with his individual charisma all these other fashion companies to come there. So, he really made the street. I was looking up some proverbs by Isaac Bashevis Singer who said , “A good life is not a passive existence where you live and let live. It is one of involvement where you live and help live.” That’s exactly what Fred did by bringing in all those other people to the party. Because Fred was doing marvelously there, all the other big names wanted to be there. So it is a life of involvement where you live and help live. Thousands of people have had jobs because of Fred’s ingenuity and Fred’s drive that made Rodeo Drive.”

The quote he invoked by Isaac Bashevis is particularly poignant given Vidal’s own approach to life.

Amen. R.I.P. Beautiful Vidal.

Suzan also offers a line with the dynamic patterns of textile legend Celia Birtwell, along with that of other designers.

Those by Mr. Beaton, however, particularly caught my fancy (only a few are featured above). As I get underway with overhauling my bathroom (keeping the red tile floor in tact, of course!), I covet the Tic-Tac-Toe print for one of the walls. Hmmm…..

Images Courtesy: Suzan Fellman site

Getting settled in today. Can’t wait to share it all with you!

That’s right, pack up the kiddies and SPF 50: it’s the third annual Kimmel Kids+Splendid Crafting Community at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, April 27-29.

We are thrilled to be a part of this year’s fest with the first A+R Toy Lab. Besides our current range of modern playthings, we’ll also be unveiling fun stuff for the first time in the U.S. The A+R Toy Lab will also feature a lending library supplied by our pals at Harper Collins, Blue Apple Books and Simon & Schuster.

The weekend is filled with interactive workshops, from leather working to creating succulent gardens, morning yoga to a desert disco. And sneaker valhalla Undefeated and The Yard are hosting a ping-pong tournament.

There are some slots still open, so get your skates on and reserve yours for la familia fast. It’s the coolest place to be under the scorching desert sun this season!

But back to Dolly Parton.

Her songs, her voice, her style are singularly hers—yet she is more than an American icon. Everyone, everywhere connects to her, evidenced on this journey by the deejay, the caller on his show and those of us listening, spanning generations.

Of course, Dolly was everywhere when I was in Nashville only a couple weeks ago. She took up several bins in the legendary Lawrence Record Shop in downtown. Blocks away at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, it seemed the curators there couldn’t find enough reasons to insert the delectable Dolly into one exhibit or another.

Funnily, I am usually not a fan of songs with desperado lyrics of forlorn love like those in “Joline.” The very thought of any one throwing herself on her knees this way makes my skin itch. “Stand up and be a woman!” I want to say. “There are other men out there more deserving of you…”

But instead, I catch myself singing along with Dolly.

There was the lost opportunity of finally meeting the genius through our mutual friend Dita Von Teese, never mind missing out on her surprise performance for 150 guests at a private home the night before the gala on her crystal-covered bucking saddle—a particular act I have not seen live yet. Sadder was missing Suzy Menkes’ interview with JPG the morning after the gala (I still fondly remember squiring her around L.A. to a handful of fashion shows and designer studios a few years back, the Lilliputian grand dame scaling the ledge of my SUV with aplomb!).

I will certainly make it to the show before it closes August 19. But to put the kabosh on my moaning, Andy sweetly ordered me a copy of the exhibition catalog, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk. The 9.8-pound tome is packed with 500 gorgeous images dating back to JPG’s first show in 1976. It arrived this week. The book is beyond what Dita and other friends promised.

Still, glutton for experience as I am, I wished I’d been there!

A rose needs 81 hours to grow and thrive. A factoid that I was not aware of regarding my namesake flower. But this bit of horticultural insight inspired the premise of the new short “81 Hours In One Suitcase” directed by pals Aaron Rose and produced Apple Via for the brand 81 hours.

Filmed in our ‘hood of Silver Lake, the protagonist of this short is quintessential California gal Frankie Rayder. Local band Mikki and the Mauses make live appearance, as does their rendition of the Talking Heads “As She Was.”

There are other cameos, too, but admittedly, my favorite is the vintage suitcase that is transformed in Aaron’s hands through much the film. Aaron’s been customizing old cases for some time now, and they are a wonderful piece of modern folk art.>