Von Teese is best known for her burlesque routines and is frequently dubbed the “Queen of Burlesque” in the press. Von Teese began performing burlesque in 1992, and, as a proponent of Neo-Burlesque, has helped to popularize its revival. In her own words, she “puts the tease back into striptease” with long, elaborate dance shows with props and characters, often inspired by 1930s and 1940s musicals and films. Some of her more famous dances have involved a carousel horse, a giant powder compact, a filigree heart and a clawfoot bathtub with a working shower head. Her signature show features a giant martini glass. Her feather fan dance, inspired by burlesque dancer Sally Rand, featured the world’s largest feather fans, now on display in Hollywood’s Museum of Sex.

Von Teese appeared on numerous fetish magazine covers, including Bizarre and Marquis. It was around this time when she appeared on the cover of Midori’s book, The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage. Von Teese was featured in Playboy in 1999, 2001, and 2002, with a cover-featured pictorial in 2002. German metal band Atrocity chose her as the cover model for their 2008 album, Werk 80 II.

Marilyn Manson had been a longtime fan of hers and was a member of her website. They first met when he asked her to dance in one of his music videos, and though she was unable to, the two remained in contact. On Manson’s 32nd birthday, in 2001, she arrived with a bottle of absinthe and they became a couple. Manson proposed on March 22, 2004, and gave her a 1930s, 7-carat (1.4 g), European round-cut diamond engagement ring. On November 28, 2005, they were married in a private, non-denominational ceremony at home. A larger ceremony was held on December 3 at Castle Gurteen de la Poer in Kilsheelan (County Tipperary), Ireland, the home of their friend, Gottfried Helnwein. The wedding was officiated by surrealist film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky. The event was featured in Vogue. Dita wore a royal purple silk taffeta gown, made by Vivienne Westwood and a tri-cornered hat designed by Stephen Jones and matching Mr. Pearl corset. Christian Louboutin designed her shoes.

She has also done catwalk work. During Los Angeles Fashion Week for spring 2004, she modeled for former club kid Richie Rich’s fashion label, Heatherette. In 2005, she appeared in the Autumn/Winter Ready-to-Wear show for Giambattista Valli, a former designer for Ungaro, in Paris. In the 2006 Milan Fashion Week, Von Teese was on the runway, opening for the Moschino diffusion label, Moschino Cheap & Chic, autumn/winter 2006/7 show. In 2007, she appeared twice in the Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show during the Paris Fashion Week, and again in 2014. She has starred in several ad campaigns. She appeared in Vivienne Westwood’s spring/summer 2005 collection adverts and became the face of Australian clothing range “Wheels and Dollbaby” for their 2006/7 Spring/Summer advertising campaign. She was an ambassador/spokesmodel for HIV/AIDS awareness when she was selected (along with Eve, Debbie Harry, and Lisa Marie Presley) for MAC Cosmetics’ Viva Glam VI campaign (a collection of lipsticks and lipgloss where 100% of the proceeds are for worldwide AIDS charities and to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS). Von Teese has appeared in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, and international issues of nearly every fashion magazine.

Her burlesque career has included some memorable performances. She once appeared at a benefit for the New York Academy of Art wearing nothing but $5 million worth of diamonds. Additionally, Von Teese became the first guest star at the Crazy Horse cabaret club in Paris with her appearance in October 2006. Also in 2006, Von Teese appeared on an episode of America’s Next Top Model (cycle 7) doing a workshop to teach the contestants about sexiness by means of burlesque dancing and posing. In 2007, Von Teese performed at the adult entertainment event Erotica 07 in London alongside Italian rock band Belladonna.

Von Teese’s first book (in collaboration with Bronwyn Garrity), which consisted of her opinions on the history of burlesque and fetish, Burlesque and the Art of the Teese / Fetish and the Art of the Teese, was published in 2006 by HarperCollins (and in New York by Regan Books). Vanity Fair called her a “Burlesque Superheroine”.

On December 29, 2006, Von Teese filed for divorce from Manson citing “irreconcilable differences”. Von Teese left their house empty-handed on Christmas Eve, and was not able to get in touch with Manson to inform him of her intention to divorce him. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Von Teese stated, “I wasn’t supportive of his partying or his relationship with another girl. As much as I loved him, I wasn’t going to be part of that.” Von Teese also stated that she gave Manson an ultimatum, and said that “it didn’t work. Instead, it made me the enemy.” Von Teese did not seek spousal support and expressed no interest in his assets. The news broke for the public and for Manson on his birthday on January 5, 2007, when he was served the divorce papers.

In recent years, she has appeared in more mainstream features, such as the 2005 short film, The Death of Salvador Dali, written by Delaney Bishop, which won best screenplay and best cinematography at SXSW, Raindance Film Festival, and Mill Valley Film Festival, and won Best Actress at Beverly Hills Film Festival. She starred in the feature film Saint Francis in 2007.

She stated in 2007, “I don’t understand why women feel the need to go into acting as soon as they become famous … But I suppose if the part were aesthetically correct, then maybe I could consider it.”

In January 2011, Von Teese guest starred in the CBS police procedural drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in which her friend Eric Szmanda starred, in the episode “A Kiss Before Frying”. She played Rita von Squeeze, a femme fatale version of herself, who seduces Szmanda’s character, Greg Sanders, in a plot inspired by film noir.

She has designed a new lingerie range with Wonderbra. One of Dita Von Teese’s trademark items is the garter belt with six garters instead of the usual four, with two each at the front, side seams and back. In May 2012, Von Teese launched her makeup collection “Classics” in partnership with the German cosmetic brand Art Deco. Compact powder, blushers, eye styler, eye shadows, mascara and lipstick were produced to recreate the burlesque performer’s retro look.

In 2012, Dita Von Teese launched her own clothing line and underwear line called Von Follies. In 2013, Dita was both model and muse for the ‘Dita’ 3D printed gown designed by Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti and 3D printed by Shapeways exactly to fit her body. Constructed of over 3,000 interlocked 3D printed components and over 12,000 Swarovski crystals it is one of the first fully articulated 3D printed garments to take the technology from haute couture to a sensual fabric-like form.

In addition, she has appeared in a number of music videos, including the video for the Green Day song “Redundant,” the video for “Zip Gun Bop” by swing band Royal Crown Revue, Agent Provocateur’s video for their cover of Joy Division’s “She’s Lost Control”, and (performing her martini-glass burlesque routine) the video for “Mobscene” by Marilyn Manson. She was featured in a striptease/burlesque act in George Michael’s live tour 2008, for the song “Feelin’ Good”. In addition to this, she appeared at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 as the central feature of Germany’s entry, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang by Alex Swings, Oscar Sings. She also appeared in the music video “Up in the Air” by Thirty Seconds to Mars in 2013.

In 2014, Von Teese began working with Myer, an Australian department store, on a lingerie line fronted by Australian model Stefania Ferrario.

In an interview in 2016, Dita said “I was with him for seven years, we were married for only a year and I feel like getting married was sort of like the ‘kiss of death’ for us because it was sort of like the nail in the coffin. I felt kind of obliged to go through with the ceremony in a way because there was so much riding on it. Vogue was photographing it and it was in this castle and it was like this theater…I’m not going to beat myself up for being in different relationships and not finding a person I’m with until the end of my days.”

On January 22, 2020, Von Teese walked in Jean Paul Gaultier’s final couture fashion show in Paris.