NOTES FROM A TRAVELLER

The paparazzi will never catch me in a tracksuit on holiday. I don’t even own a pair of jeans and, as I refuse to keep fit by jogging, I have no need for a tracksuit.

I adore Paris and especially love to stay at the famous L’Hôtel. It is very romantic. Oscar Wilde had a house close to it. Famous showgirls have always stayed there. I first visited Paris in 1991 and was fascinated by the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles.

I don’t travel with an entourage. I always do my own styling for my shows. There was an unfortunate incident a few years ago when a stylist suggested teaming 1940s shoes with jeans. I had to tell her she was no longer required.

The British are really quite kinky. I always love being in London because it has a heritage of burlesque. One of the great pioneers at the turn of the last century was a group called Lydia Thompson and Her British Blondes. They were the first girls to wear fishnet tights and lift their skirts. And by all accounts they were very sexy in their G-strings.

I run up and down hotel stairs to keep in shape. I can’t imagine using a hotel gym where other people can look at me.

My signature dance routine features a giant martini glass. It’s my favourite and gets requested all over the world. I have performed it everywhere from Ibiza to Hong Kong.

When I was little I loved the femininity of the 1930s and 1940s. If you visit Los Angeles, you must drive around Bel Air and see the houses that were lived in by Hollywood’s most glamorous actresses, such as Betty Grable and Marlene Dietrich. No woman had really worn trousers before her. I bought the corset Betty Grable wore in The Farmer Takes a Wife, and I often sit around in it if I’m seeking inspiration.

Dita is an ambassador for the MAC Aids Fund. Visit macaidsfund.org for information. Burlesque and the Art of the Teese/Fetish and the Art of the Teese by Dita Von Teese (£25, HarperEntertainment) is out now. Interview by Andrew Threlfall.