LMFF – Dita von Teese fashion parade for Target

Part two of my wonderful day with Christine McCabe – you can see part one here.

After our wonderful shopping and afternoon tea of a day, Christine and I headed off to see Dita von Teese’s fashion parade for her new line of lingerie at Target, “Von Follies” as part of the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival. We had prime seats: centre front row! So you can imagine how excited I was when Dita sashayed out in her scanties, and posed right in front of us and started to remove her peignoir….

She was teasing of course – she continued her sashay down to the very end of the very long catwalk where she took it off and then returned. Dita is a good customer of Circa, but this is the first time I’ve seen her perform (albeit very gently) and I can confirm that she owned the catwalk. I’ve seen a lot of models but every little move of Dita’s was confident, sexy and in control. She’s very small of course, and some of the models towered over her but when she was on stage, every one else melted into the background. A true professional.

There had been some debate about whether Dita would take to the catwalk herself, to promote her range. She would be there of course, but probably fully dressed and perhaps, talking about her collection. I was wrong – there was no talking, just a pumping vintage burlesque soundtrack (love!) and lots and lots of ladies of all varieties in their/Dita’s knickers. Fabulous!

First they came out one by one so we could fully appreciate their beautiful lingerie, complete with vintage accessories like sequinned boleros, beaded silk capelets, gloves, hats and even the odd whip. All with beautiful seamed stockings (Secrets and Lace?) and very high Louboutin black stilettos. Kudos to the make up and hairstylists too: I loved the modern take on vintage styling.

Speaking of high heels, as much as I love them, many of us find them hard to walk in and I’m a firm believer that to look good, we need to be comfortable. Not ugg-boot-and-track-suit comfortable of course, but you need to be able to concentrate on the job at hand without watching every step. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the shoes are just getting too high for the lovely models to do their job well – not only were some of the models looking anxious as they placed their feet in front of each other, one poor lady lost her shoe in front of me – there were some nice men of course who were happy to help but I’m sure she was flustered. Walking a long catwalk in your underwear in front of hundreds of people is nerve wracking enough without losing your shoes!

Despite there being lots of models (24 I heard), it was over all too quickly and Dita led the ladies back in, two by two like the most glamourous Noah’s Ark from your dreams.


As well as being in-store at Target, the range is also available online – although, it’s not as widely sized as I’d hoped. On the day I went in I failed to find a single bra to fit: perhaps they had already sold out? The range has been very popular.

I particularly liked the sheer knickers with ruching at the back, worn by many in the parade and love the black lace knickers in the goodie bag and wonder how they knew my size? Hmm.

The webshop is also intriguing, with these suspenders displayed as if they’re hipsters – ladies, they should sit higher, just below your waist. Dearie me – in any case, Dita’s range is beautiful and I hope she continues to release vintage lingerie styles for the modern wearer at budget-friendly prices.

Thank you to Tourism Victoria for my front row ticket: a dream come true! I didn’t want it to end. You can see a highlights clip of the parade here: warning, it’s self-starting.

3 comments

  1. What do you think of the overwire bra? I’ve never seen one before and I’m wondering what it actually does.

  2. Vicki, I’m curious about the overwire too: I’m yet to see one in it’s natural habitat (vintage land) so can only surmise it was a short lived fashion – or they were so great, they were all worn to death!

    I think I need to get one and give it a shot – although I suspect it’s better for ladies who aren’t as busty as I don’t fancy the extra wire potentially digging into my flesh.

  3. My friend and I tried on the over wire bras a couple of weeks ago and both thought it was a terrible fit and neither of us are busty. I thought maybe it would work better on someone who is bigger in the bust.

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