Katy Perry Copying Dita Von Teese?
Photos: Getty Images | Courtesy of Vanity Fair
Who's the Fair-est of them all? Dita Von Teese in 2008; Katy Perry on VF's June 2011 cover
Hello again?
After snapping Katy Perry wearing a '40s-style swimsuit, retro waves, and scarlet lips for the June issue of Vanity Fair, star photographer Annie Leibovitz is denying accusations that the image is a rip-off of a Dita Von Teese photo from 2008, the New York Post's Page Six reports.
While Perry ironically muses that "I looked into what was out there and I didn't see anyone like me ... my style, my opinion" in the accompanying interview, Von Teese was photographed in a similar champagne bustier dress paired with her signature pinup curls and red lipstick for the 2008 launch of her Wonderbra collection.
"Images in this shoot appear to be a direct homage to Dita Von Teese," a source tells the paper. "It is surprising that Katy claims to be such an original in the interview."
Leibovitz, however, insists the similarity is purely coincidental.
"I'd never seen the Wonderbra ad," she tells Page Six. "Katy's is a classic pose as old as the hills."
Try telling that to Von Teese, who just announced that she's designing a lingerie line. Though the burlesque star seems to shrug off the look-alike pose as harmless, she tells the paper Perry has 'fessed up to copying her style.
"Katy and I are friends," she says. "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].' 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."
Just as, we're sure, Bettie Page, Marilyn Monroe, and countless Vargas Girls find the naturally blonde Von Teese's pinup look a compliment and homage to their own trailblazing style. After all, what's a little "borrowing" amongst friends?
Meanwhile, see Perry channel other iconic looks in her ghd campaign.
