Dark Roasted Blend is one of the top 500 Technorati sites. Though it's not specifically about pinups, they have an extensive collection of vintage articles and images. This is what Avi and Rachel Abrams, its originators, have to say about it:

The "Dark Roasted Blend" is ...dedicated to the on-going quest for wisdom and beauty, for all things cool and wonderful in our world, and beyond - in the spiritual realm.

As for you, pinup lovers, you will love marvelous compilations, such as The Glamour of Flight series, the Lovely Ladies of Yesteryear series, the Girls & Cars series, Ladies & Robots and Barbarella & Other Ladies in Space (don't forget to check out The Pinup Blog's own Pinups in Space).

Tags: Dark Roasted Blend, Vintage images, Avi and Rachel Abrams, pinup lovers, Lovely Ladies of Yesteryear

Sexy astronauts, alluring aliens, and sassy space warriors are a mainstay in pinup culture. Taking erotic fantasy out of this world.

Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon captured many people’s imagination, all around the world. But it wasn’t until a hundred years later, that the Apollo 11 would land on the moon and really fuel pop culture. It’s easy to find fantastic images of sexy aliens, today. TV and the cinema have made it popular with movies and shows such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Total Recall and many more.



I’d like to take a more chronological-as-possible look at the pinup space fantasy, because I think, all you pinup lovers will be pleasantly surprised.

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Tags: Erotic fantasy art, space pinups, Luis Royo, sexy aliens, High tech Fetish, Barbarella, Bill Randall, Andrew Bawidamann, cartoon cheesecake, Marcus Gray, Hubert De Lartigue, erotic sci/fi, Frank Frazetta, 1950's, Hajime Sorayama, 1980's, olivia de Berardinis

Last time I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show I was too young to understand all the delicate nuances of this film. But one thing was for sure: I adore Tim Curry! His opening song had every bit of influence on me, as Jessica Rabbit's. This is not just for my GLBT readers (though I did think of you ). Curry has the voice, body and poise to create a mesmerizingly sexy burlesque performance. See for yourself, the sweetest transvestite bombshell to ever grace the silver screen.

Tags: Tim Curry, Just a Sweet Transvestite, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, GLBT, Beefcake pinups

Today's Bi-Weekly edition is on the risque side. leave the kidies with the sitter, because we're going into the realm of erotic art. Obsession Art exhibits the works of a myriad of artists. from photography to paintings. A lot of nudity and a lot of fetishistic insinuation. A personal favorite, I thought I'd share, was the above Aviation Fuel (yes, it's the pilot cap that got me ), by photographer Sean McCall, who does beautiful black&white photography, and works a lot with Dita Von Teese (in above picture). Thats just one example of the fine erotic art you'll find at Obsession Art, so go check it out.

Tags: Obsession Art, Erotic Art, Dita Von Teese, Risque paintings, nudity, Fetishistic, Sean McCall

While writing about biker art, and looking for female riders, I was reminded of those old, Italian, vintage Vespa posters. With all due respect to the roaring Harley, lets move on to the waspy hum of the Vespa.

Since the 1950's, anyone who’s ever visited Italy, especially Rome, knows the familiar site of pretty girls on their Vespa. Why is it that the Harley Davidson became a man’s vehicle, and the Piaggio Vespa became a woman’s Vehicle?

A Sissy Motorcycle

The original designer of Vespa, Corradino D'Ascanio, apparently didn’t see the fun of the motorcycle, and opted to create a sensible two-wheel mode of transportation.

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Tags: Vespa women, Oil-painted cheesecake, 1960, 1970, Jayne Mansfield, Raquel Welsh, Female riders, England, Vespa ads, Urssula Andress, Italian pinups, Vintage Vespa Posters, Harley Davidson, 1950's, Italy, Piaggio girls, Corradino D'Ascanio

Today I bring you a fun pinup activity. A "What Famous Pinup Are You?" quiz. Sorry to all my male readers, this is a girl thang!
(unless you got the balls to except this challenge )

You Are Betty Grable

The ultimate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

Don't forget to come back and share your results

Tags: What Famous Pinup Are You?, quiz, fun pinup activity, Betty Grable

For this Pinup, Polar Bears aren't Just a Prop!

While thinking up a pinup for Earth Day, I came across Enoch Bolles' horrific (yet mesmerizingly painted) pinup in red lingerie. Traumatized for life, an idea popped into my head for another environmental pinup.

As many of you know, one of my favorite pinups involves such senseless brutality, Elvgren's The Bear Facts (under the Enoch Bolles pinup). This is my take on The Bear Facts, and the role of Polar Bears in pinup art, in the 21st century.










Click on the item of your choice and Say "no" to the bear-rug.

keep polar bears and pinups alive!

Tags: The Pinup Shop, The Bear Facts, I Prefer Them Alive, save the Polar Bears, Gil Elvgren, Bear-rug, Earth Day, Enoch Bolles, Environmental pinups

I love getting tip-offs from my readers. I received this one, from Ariel, to my email box:

Hello, 

I love your website! I too am obsessed and enthralled by pinup! Anyway, even though this may be a bit too late (or really early) to be helpful, I know you were looking really hard for different kinds of St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Thanksgiving pinups. I know of some really good ones that you missed on your list that I thought you might be interested in. Anyway, here they are:

ST. PATRICK'S DAY:
http://thepinupfiles.com/images/KBS-elliot-14-LG.jpg
http://www.skylighters.org/stpats/index.html
http://www.skylighters.org/ggparade/marthavickers33.jpg
http://www.skylighters.org/ggparade/arlenedahl18.jpg

EASTER:
http://thepinupfiles.com/images/kbsmacpherson02.jpg

THANKSGIVING:
http://www.skylighters.org/pinupreview/index17.html
http://www.angelfire.com/mn/alwaysnormajeane/images/Starlet_pics/pilgrim_01.jpg

So, thanks to Ariel, in addition to my own Easter bunnies, St. Patrick's pinups and Thanksgiving bombshells, we can all enjoy the above links!

Tags: Holiday pinups, Easter Bunnies, St. Patrick's pinups, Thanksgiving bombshells

The end of the 19th century brought us the curvy, flowing styling of Art Nouveau. What better suiting movement to kick-start the pinups of the mid 20th century?

Ok, many will debate me on this. But I believe painting a woman, solely for her beauty, without the whole mythology behind it, didn’t really get it’s full momentum, until Art Nouveau came along. Maybe because it was commercial art? Or maybe because it was about time?

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - The Most Famous Nouveau Artist

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec is probably most famous for his wild depictions of the night life of the Moulin Rouge.

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Tags: Art Nouveau, 19th century art, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Risque paintings, 1950's pinups, Alfons Mucha, Elvgren Coca Cola Ads, Jules Chéret, Modern poster, Gustav Klimt, commercial art

Among my constant searches for neo-pinups, one almost never fails. It's Dark Pinup Girls from LiveJournal. It's a large group, who's members (usually the models, but sometimes the photographers) post their photo-shoots of a gothic pinup style. Sometimes it's "traditional" neo-pinups: retro sweet with piercing and tattoos. And Sometimes it's down-right disturbing. There's something for everyone, so go check them out. Another plus to the way LiveJournal is constructed is that if you like just one of the models, you can check out her personal page, which the girls usually update regularly.

Tags: Dark Pinup Girls, Traditional neo-pinups

Geeks really do have the best taste in women. (they really don't get much respect for it.) As testament, here's a single picture I found at Geekstir. They say sex sells. Well now it gets you to download free software. Enjoy all you pinup lovers, this is a rare neo-pinup. She's all about what a pinup is today.

Tags: Firefox Pinup, sex sells, Geeks

Not an easy search for an outsider like myself. But It’s been mentioned to me that biker art has much to do with pinups. I actually tend to disagree.

Biker art is very fetishistic. It’s really all about the machine- that appears in unbelievable detail- more than the bikers. It’s also a lot about the life style and surroundings of the bikers. Be it an open road winding into nature or old midwest American farms. On the other hand, it’s probably the only niche I know where the men are more focal than the women and they’re not any type of mainstream sexy. All that said, I’d like to focus on the pinup side of biker art.

The Harley Davidson Art Gallery

What better place to start than the biggest brand name in biker culture, Harley Davidson.

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Tags: Biker Art, Biker pinups, Harley Davidson, David Uhl, Brigitte Bardot, Female riders, Pamela Shanteau, Gil Elvgren

Gretchen Mol is most known for her leading role in The Notorious Betty Page, playing the sweet and sexy Betty. I put a picture of Mol with the black Betty wig next to this current one, because if you'd ask me, I'd say those are not the same girl. Naturally blond Gretchen seems so much more a Marlene Dietrich than a Betty (but that's just my humble opinion ). Whomever she looks like, she's first and foremost herself, and by the look at the series of photos, done for the Men.Style.Com interview, she's a natural born pinup.

Tags: The Notorious Betty Page, Gretchen Mol, Marlene Dietrich

Pinups are no longer just Americana. Pinup Parade, as one example, is a site dedicated to "showcasing Europe-based vintage-style pin-up talent". Simply and elegantly designed, you will find a shop, with a beautiful collection of retro and vintage clothing, and- what I found particularly gorgeous: a gallery. The Pinup Parade gallery is chock-full of beautiful women of different sizes and ethnicity. It's a real treat.

Tags: pinup parade, Europe based pinups, pinup clothes, Vintage clothing

Plus-size pinups are a niche within a niche. It's hard to see a potential of growth outside of the plus-size fetish community. I would like to propose otherwise, by showcasing a few plus-size pinup artists.

Searching for plus-size pinups is (as in many other pinup sub-niches) tough and yields little results. Even more discouraging was finding the following short conversation on Yahoo Answers, in the begining stages of research.

Q: Who are some of the greatest plus-size pin-up models of today?

A1: Look on myspace, and you'll find plenty. the thing is, pin-up models, plus size or otherwise, aren't really part of a booming industry outside of fetishists, Betty Page fans and tattoo conventions. Can you name a contemporary pin-up model (outside of Dita Von-Teese) at all?
Plus size pin-ups especially are a non-issue - I can't name any because there aren't any famous ones. Again, you'll find hundreds of women calling themselves plus size models on myspace - so you can check them out there, but the majority of them are not actual models.

A2:Are you talking about waist line or bust size?
Not a huge market for fat pin-ups. Pun intended.
With the advent of the internet the market for modern pin-ups has become huge, de-valued, international, and fragmented. I can't say who is the queen of today's pin-up market. 99% of pin-ups are viewed eletronically and never make it to print. Just 10 years ago it was the complete opposite.
Certainly there is no modern Betty Page of any size.

Hilda - Very Humble Beginnings

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Tags: Hilda, Plus-size Pinup, pinup artists, Duane Bryers, Booty Babe Art, Les Toil girls, Bodacious Magazine, chris Cooper, Big Bad Girls