Much like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry’s style influences become apparent very quickly. Katy seems to mostly jack from Betty Page and Dita Von Teese, then add a dash of Japanese cartoons. Now, I’m not really claiming that Dita Von Teese is the first person in modern fashion history to ever do this vintagey-pinup thing, but Dita does it really, really well, she’s super-committed to the look, and she’s actually a student of the 1940s-1950s fashion era, to the point where she’s likely an expert at this point. Anyway, Page Six has an interesting story about people calling Katy out on her blatant theft of Dita’s look, in general and specifically on the cover of Vanity Fair:
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery — but Katy Perry’s new Vanity Fair cover appears to be an almost exact copy of a 2008 Dita von Teese pose.
Perry’s provocative pose on the cover of the June issue, shot by famed photographer Annie Liebovitz and styled by the magazine’s fashion and style director Jessica Diehl, has sparked whispers that the pop star is ripping off burlesque star von Teese’s style.
Perry is also quoted in the magazine as saying: “I looked into what was out there and I didn’t see anyone like me . . . my style, my opinion.”Yes, apart from von Teese’s almost identical pose, hair and outfit at a 2008 Wonderbra Lingerie Collection launch in London. Photos can still be seen on fan Web sites for the sultry star.
A source said: “Images in this shoot appear to be a direct homage to Dita von Teese. It is surprising that Katy claims to be such an original in the interview.”
Von Teese herself appears to take the imitation as flattery. She told us at the party she hosted at Los Feliz to launch her Cointreau cocktail: “People have always copied my style. I used to have friends who would dye their hair exactly the same shade as mine. I see it as a compliment.” Of Perry, she added: “Katy and I are friends. She comes to a lot of my shows, but she [recently] came backstage and said: ‘I am taking all of this (gesturing at her hair and costume).’ ”
This isn’t the first time Liebovitz has been accused of borrowing iconic images for inspiration. Her 2008 Vogue cover featuring LeBron James and Gisele Bundchen was said to be an homage to a World War I Army recruitment poster. Liebovitz argued she hadn’t seen the poster.
Reps for Vanity Fair and Perry didn’t get back to us. Leibovitz responded: “I’d never seen the Wonderbra ad. Katy’s is a classic pose as old as the hills.”
[From Page Six]
I went back and found the old 2008 images of Dita, and while I wouldn’t say Katy and Annie Liebovtiz jacked the entire look and style, the similarities are certainly striking, especially when you’re looking at hair, makeup and the color of the bustier.
It also sounds like Dita’s not offended – but that she wants to make sure that people know Katy is copying her. Dita is so classy. I love her so much.
Photos courtesy of WENN, VF.
yes she is and shes failing miserably because k.p is fug, her make up really makes her face shes not a pretty girl
I heart Dita. She had a softness to her that Katy lacks. Katy is just kind of brash to me.
I disagree. I think Katie is a very pretty girl and does the Dita Von Teese thing very nicely, if not quite reaching Dita’s pinnacle of perfection.
obviously she didn´t style herself for a magazine cover, there ARE people being highly paid to do that. As for the pinup style, none are the first nor they will be the last.
And ffs , Dita Von Teese is not pretty either, she has a killer bod and that´s about that, everything else is not that impressive.
i love the look on dita b/c she’s so sincere about it, it just works. but on katy its just boring, even with the bright colors and ridiculous outfits its still boring.
Katy certainly is trying to steal Dita’s style, but she is failing miserably. Dita is classy, while Katy is trashy. There can only be one Dita.
Perry does come off as the more budget model who has to show you everything she has before you even put the nickel in the slot. 😉
Katy Perry’s bustier thing totally doesn’t fit. Look how it s actually a few inches lower than her boobs. They don’t even fit in it. If she stood up straight they would come right out. It’s like two or three sizes too small. I guess that’s supposed to be…sexy?
Also, Dita’s eye makeup always looks terrible. Love her style. Hate her makeup.
Katy’s like a Dita Barbie doll. Tries to do the real thing, but looks plastic and fake, and a little bit cheap.
Love the headline on the mag, too. “More than meets the eye”. Really? Doesn’t seem to be…
Perry is Dita’s poor man here
Katy has been impersonating Dita for years, why is this suddenly news?
LOVE Dita v. Teese
Liebovitz is such a b-tch. she hasn’t seen the poster? ahaha and I’m a ballerina. bet this is a conscious rippoff too.
To be fair, Dita probably doesn’t care because she knows her style isn’t original, either. Yes, she does what she does amazingly well, but she is, when you get down to it, just copying an already-iconic look. It would be pretty hypocritical of her to call Katy Perry out.
Dite von Teese= Art
Katy Perry = Tart
Dita is gorgeous and smart with class and finesse that Katy will never have. Katy’s looks are like her talent overrated.
Um well aren’t they both SO-Cal girls who die their lighter tresses black and wear heavy red lips and make-up….. not to much of a stretch for either i guess.
Totally agree with KimnotKardashian.
I love Dita and yes she’s classy and does what she does well but she did not invent her look. She’s a copier too and there is nothing wrong with that. We all copy someone/ something or other at one point. It’s natural. Just don’t go claiming it’s all yours. *looking at Gaga*
I think Joan Faontaine said once”If you want “the girl next door” go next door”.
And this is what I enjoy about Dita-she doesn’t compromise.
But I also have no problem with Perry coping her.
duh?
Katy is known for ripping people off, not just with music(waves at TATU), but with her look. Here in LA is she not seen as a pilfered, low rent version of Zooey Deschanel and Dita Von Teese, but she also look jacked local music goddess Brody Dalle in more ways than one. Katy’s only signature move really is shooting frosting out of her nips.
And no, Dita did not invent the look, but she did iconize the look for the present. If you look at Katy’s transformations in the last two year, you see a girl with very little style who basically has been given a makeover by her studio to make her more presentable. Like I said, here in LA she’s seen as a cheap Brody-Zooey-Dita knockoff, someone who just throws all these things out and sees what sticks, both musically, commercially, and appearance wise.
Since Dita has built her career as an homage to the pinup girl, it’s a bit silly for her to lay claim to it. Vargas girl, pinup, etc. – come on, it’s open to everyone, that’s what makes it fun. Remember fun?
So much for “the rack is real,” LOL ! 😛
Katy is so ugly and budget. I really don’t get it. Dita is so out of her league it’s crazy.
who cares, what does dita von teese even do other than emulate bettie page and i guess she used to bang marilyn manson? katy looks smokin as usual.
I agree with Larissa. I also think KP pretty. I don’t think DVT is prettier than her but everyone copies someone. I don’t really like Dita, I’ve seen some interviews, she doesn’t peak my interest.
“Dita did not invent the look, but she did iconize the look for the present.”
Yeah, because nobody would know about the pinup look if it weren’t for her. *eye roll*
That picture of Katy Perry is scary!! They’ve shrunk down her torso and hips so tiny…that in the process they also shrunk her hands. Looks so eerie.
Before she was famous…I used to love her music. Then she became some boobalicious tart singing crappy pop music.
Ummmm … von Teese’s style is not original. See: The Past.
Dita does retro burlesque right. Katy turns it into a bad tit joke.
sarah: Er, Dita Von Teese basically did usher in the burlesque trend, people don’t really have a reference point beyond her. Katy really doesn’t do pinup girl at this point, she tries to pull off burlesque, she just doesn’t have teh moves or presence to pull it off beyond still photos. It makes her look like a poser.
I think Dita does the pinup look wonderfully—but the fact that she adopted an iconic looks as her own doesn’t mean she owns it. Dita is gorgeous and I LOVE her style. But the “class” is a put on. About 10 years ago she was selling her used panties on her website. I am at work currently and can’t go check to see if that is still the case..but come on. I think it is interesting that everyome finds her so “classy”. She got her claim to fame modeling lingerie and fetish gear. Which is FINE. And she does it better than ANYONE. But it is not like she is Princess Di for goodness sake.
Dita IMO isnt so much copying but she likes ot embody the glamour of the 50’s. Perry just is using it for attention or to sell magazines or perfume or whatever.
I think its different if you like the whole style and attitude and grace and femininity of the 50’s, versus if you want to pose in a bustier. Katy is just nothing but a bustier, Dita is 50’s grace and sexuality.
When I first saw this the first thing that came to my attention was how similar the pose & hair/styling is to the recent Rihanna cover. I forget which magazine, but its the whole hair covering one eye thing.
Honestly. How on earth can someone “steal” someone’s style when the whole pin up/burlesque thing has been around for ages? Its pretty generic if you ask me. The only thing that could possibly be stolen in terms of style is a dress made out of meat…
Yes, Dita does it better, but she’s not exactly classy. She was married to Marilyn Manson, she’s been in pornos, she flashes the girls for a living.. If that’s what you’re into, ok, but really this classy vs. trashy fight should be well dressed vs. not as well dressed.
And one cannot steal a stolen look. I’m telling Bette Page on most of you.
@ Novaraen
“some boobalicious tart singing crappy pop music”
ITA – Kate P is riding the sex kitten/ big boobs image as far as it will go and that is lame. I don’t find all of her music crappy – but I agree we are talking “pop music” and nothing more. I had higher hopes for her when she started out.
@Pamela: Not only modeling fetish gear, she appeared in hardcore lesbian porn, which you can still find online. I admired her and thought she did “classy burlesque” lots of tease and little actual “show” till I saw that and it erased all the class I thought she had.
One can dress beautifully and behave elegantly, but in the end, she’s just another porn star who had sex on camera for money.
This is wanted to be like a remake of Dita or what? I read some of the comments and I saw someone saying something like pinup style is here from ages and nobody copies nobody. But I have to disagree with that. A pinup pic is a thing, but taking a photo of somebody wearing the same colors at makeup, clothes, even the same hairstyle as another person I strongly think it’s called copy-paste. In this case, Katy looks like a failed ’50s pinup model with tons of Photoshop. I even think she looks better with no makeup. Dita rocks this look and looks natural. It’s clearly she doesn’t need to fake it. It’s like her personality, it’s part of her everyday life.
Ok, I’d like to point this out: DITA VON TEESE IS NOT ORIGINAL EITHER. For the love of God, just because she appears to be a “student” of an era does not qualify her for originality what so ever. She’s about as original as Katy Perry, but because she’s “classier” about it (yes, rolling around in a champagne glass IS classy, apparently) she get’s a pass go card. I don’t get it. Whatever.
The women both of these girls rip off are the real originals, and I’ll always have oodles more respect for Elizabeth Taylor, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, etc. than these little bitches.
Cosigning with those of you outing Dita for her pre-classy pin-up persona. Isn’t she just a girl named Heather from Idaho? Or is that L’Wren Scott.
Anyway, what I think is great about Dita and Katy’s look is that they can probably go unrecognized when they aren’t done up. THAT is smart. Talk about best of both worlds. Attention when you want it and none when you don’t.
Sorry ladies, I remove my “classy” remark from my first comment. Dita just lost so many points in my book. I had no idea she did porno at one point. I can’t believe it!
And unless Katy Perry did one too, I guess she’s “classier” to me now than DVT. I think Katy is a very pretty girl but she needs a decent stylist.
Dita is a vampire, I swear! haha…they both look good.
Katy’s look is tacky while Dita’s is classy as always.
Katy is stealing Dita’s look and she told Dita that she was going to do just that! Shameless!
Love Katy and her popcorn music. Not to mention her very charming and funny husband. I thought Dita was a transgender/sexual whatever. Doesn’t look to be very pretty under all the makeup. I love the dressing up and costumes but does she ever just put on some daisy dukes and tennis shoes and head for the beach?
Well, did Dita not rip off Bettie Page and those who came before her? Why do all these artists think they are so damn original?
Exactly what HotPockets said, and that’s what Kat Von D does, too. In my particular neighborhood of Minneapolis, which is friendly but also irredeemably full of itself, this has been part of hipster femaleness for more than 10 years. It goes along with tattoos, bi-curiosity, piercings, and half-arsed liberalism. It is part of the visual urban lexicon. In L.A. and NYC and Chicago, the overall motif is just another version of mainstream, from what I’ve seen in those 3 cities.
@june no, good grief, just because someone wears too much makeup doesn’t mean that.
I’m kind of on the fence for Katy; she has a few good, catchy songs – but then she has really bad ones.
As for if she ripped Dita’s style, I’d say no. This hasn’t been some recent style change on Katy’s part – the entire time she has been popular she has been doing the pin-up imitation, and much more along the lines of Bettie Page than Dita. She’s been all over he cat-eye makeup (which I will note is no done for the cover, but Dita does have), leotard-esque clothing, and pronounced red or pink lips with pale skin.
As for who I think is prettier, I’d say Katy. I may not like her as a person as much, but her facial structure is more appealing – not that Dita is ugly in anyway, mind you.
Uhh Katy perry is way prettier than dita von teese (who has a nice style but looks mannish.)
“People have always copied my style. I used to have friends who would dye their hair exactly the same shade as mine. I see it as a compliment.”
Of course she see’s it as a compliment, she complimented herself! Seriously, if you knew this mean girl, the porn is not what would be offensive- She Is.
Dita does it best / better!
As others have said, Dita herself copies the burlesque looks of the past. Perry is like Lady Gaga – she would have no control over how she’s styled and what she wears. On the very odd occasion where she’s photographed wearing minimal makeup and more casual styling (as opposed to the clown make up ) Perry is quite pretty. Would love to see Dita not in her trademark look. Hang on what…Dita has done porn? ROTFLMAO.
oh wow Dita did porn!!!!!!!!!! pfft- big deal- she is a burlesque dancer which when you boil it down is really just a glorified stripper, porn is just a (major) step up from that. it’s just nudity and sex- two of the most natural things in the world. it doesn’t change the fact that Dita is still amazingly glamorous and fabulous.
plus I googled her porno so I could verify with my very own eyeballs as my Daddy always told me “believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see” and she doesn’t do much in it. she is more the head dominatrix who leads the other girls around and they do stuff- yeah you see her boobs and vajajay but like I said- she is a burlesque dancer so they aren’t a new sight