Dita Von Teese Is Blonde, Tan … Back in High School

Long before Dita Von Teese was the raven-haired queen of burlesque, she was Heather Renee Sweet — a classic American bottle blonde with a sun-kissed glow.

Earlier this week, the performer tweeted a selection of pictures from her Rochester, Michigan, high school yearbook. In the snapshots, the teen beauty rocks big '80s hair and even bigger '80s fashions, which run the gamut from demure to daring.

In one shot, the high school girl sports a princess-inspired puffy-sleeved lavender gown, complete with flowers through her hair. In another, she flaunts a midriff-baring black bralet top and sateen parachute pants. Yes, this style maven once wore sateen parachute pants.

One element that's consistent throughout every look, however, is bling. There isn't one outfit that isn't accented with sparkling rhinestones, oversized pearls, or statement earrings. It seems even from an early age, von Teese had a penchant for the finer things.

But that doesn't mean she was always dreaming of being (arguably) the most famous stripper on the planet.

"I was really, really shy when I was a little girl. ... [I] had a very small voice and was terrified of being called on at school and just very — really quiet and very unsure of myself," she told CNN in December.

She wasn't too keen on her looks back then, either.

"I'm not going to use a word like 'ugly duckling,' but [I was] very ordinary looking. Like, my sisters were — my older sister was my cool older sister and really beautiful. And my younger sister was … very beautiful. And I was caught in the middle."

She might have been caught in the middle, but with her tan skin and flowing flaxen locks she was still pretty stunning by high school standards — even if she didn't look anything like the burlesque bombshell we know now.

So what did she envision for her future before she became an international star and beauty product mogul?

"I took a lot of ballet classes. I wanted to be a ballerina," the 40-year-old beauty explained.

Almost, Dita. Almost.

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