Women have often shown up in
revolutionary images. What is a woman’s role
in the revolution? Today The Pinup Blog
explores revolutionary pinups!
Visual art has always had the ability to
concretely represent abstract concepts, while
still leaving room for debate. Revolution is
one of those abstract concepts.
Interestingly, women have been one theme
utilized in order to interpret the many faces
of the concept of revolution. Today, we take
a look at the different female
representations of revolutions.
Today’s Bi-Weekly
Bombshell is a pinup collector’s dream.
Pinup lovers, Roger Biosca and Toni
Ricart, compile vintage pinup ads and
bind it all together in a gorgeous
coffee-table book,
Dream Baby. With minimum text and maximum
pinups, you can enjoy series of ads from
those best pinup years, 1935-1955. Also check
out their
collector’s blog of vintage items.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
“Fool” is surprisingly a very common word
in love songs. This year, the first of April
takes a serious turn with 10 gorgeous and
diverse pinups that sing about fools.
Today’s top 10 April Fools pinups have little
in common. They come in all shapes, colors
and sizes and sing in various styles and
genres. All of them, however, have phenomenal
talent and all will be singing songs that
have the word “fool” in them. Enjoy the show!
#10 Aretha Franklin - Runnin’ Out of
Fools
We start with the 1964 classic, Runnin’ Out
of Fools, with a young and sweet, but very
mature Aretha Franklin. It’s always
fascinating to see the alternative images
sold at the time to the public and better
yet, through an incredible performance, like
this one.
I just happened to
stumble on
a blog post focusing on French print artist,
Édouard Chimot. Chimot is mainly known
for his work during the 1920’s, such as this
one. Much of his work depicts the glamorous
and depraved city life. You can tell that the
fashions are just transitioning from
victorian to 20th century.
Fascinating pinups with economic lines. Look
him up!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
Here’s something for
you vintage world explorers. Komiklopedia is a
brilliant site dedicated to vintage
Philippine comics and memorabilia. There’s
lots of buffed up beefcake and distressed
cheesecake to see, so take your time and
enjoy the ride around the globe!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
In 2007 the Mildred Lane
Kemper Art Museum held an exhibition,
Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of
American Art and Popular Culture. This
Lichtenstein piece is what’s left of it
visually, but for you literary types,
there’s also this fascinating article
about the exhibition. This is definitly
one I’m sorry I missed.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
What will they think
of next?! Found this random pinup poster
at the the lovely retro blog, Bedazzled.
Some great puzzling finds, such as this
one. Take a look and have a laugh at the
past’s expense
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
The amazing
randomness of the internet took me
across time to
the fascinating article by Herbert A.
Friedman, Sex and Psychological
Operations. An eye-opening examination of
the chauvinism that reigned supreme, at the
time and the German utilization of it, for
war propaganda, in World War II. The essay is
accompanied by the leaflets of the time, that
became collector’s items and pinups for the
soldiers.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
Young, gifted, black and smoking hot!
Classic African American Pinups!
Young, gifted and black, in a time where just
being so was an act of resistance. This
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The Pinup Blog
would like to count down it’s top 10 classic
African American Pinups. Women who didn’t
have it easy and are now finally coming into
some hard-earned fame.
#10 Victoria Spivey
Blues singer and songwriter Victoria Spivey
took part in the Soundie revolution, when she
was cast by film director King Vidor, in his
first talking film, Hallelujah!. She would
continue taking roles in films throughout the
1930’s and 1940’s, but focused on her music
throughout her life.
The Pinup Blog is ecstatic to create a
tribute to the Gibson Girl. And it’s about
time, too!
By the end of the
19th
century, Charles Dana Gibson conjured up
the “Gibson Girl”. The Gibson Girl, in a
sense, was a byproduct of Gibson’s
satire work, but her beauty overpowered
the American audience and she soon
became the first national standard for
feminine beauty, in America. Her
distinct style made her iconic, and her
signature big hair and hourglass figure
are easily recognizable.
The Collar: Innocent fashion accessory,
or bondage gear?
From the most
innocent piece of jewelry to the most
fetishist admission of submission, collars
are actually quite common in pinup art. Today
we’ll look at a few examples of collars in
cheesecake and try too see if their function
and concept changes.
The Innocent Accessory in Classic
Pinups
Most probably
originating from Victorian fashions, the
collar, better known as the choker
(political correctness gone awry?), has
been fashionable all through the
19th
century. Many classic pinups from the
1940’s and 50’s feature this elegant,
little accessory:
Loads of vintage fun at
Retrospace (newest
addition to the sidebar). Be it music,
television, movies, or those silly ads
from way back when, Retrospace covers it
all. Good humored and very diverse, go
have a look, and enjoy the special
Christmasy surroundings, too!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
For all you vintage
vultures, there’s tons of fantastic
photography at The Selvedge
Yard. From pinups to beefcake, to
oddities only your grandma could explain.
It’s the newest addition to the sidebar,
because it’s just that good! Enjoy.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
Is an icon different than an object? Does
a contemporary female pinup artist create
differently than a classic female pinup
artist?
Last time I’ve
analyzed a specific pinup piece it was
Zoë Mozert’s Bubbles. I was looking to
see what a female pinup artist does
differently than male pinup artists. In
Mozert’s case, we came to the banal gender
outlook, in which women portray women in a
soft manner, and yet still, as typical of the
genre, the woman in the image was
objectified. Today we look at radically
different Olivia de Berardinis and her piece
Belle Du Jour (1987).
Line, Blot, Shape, Texture and
Pattern
Once again, we start at the
basics. And again we talk about the fact that
the lines in pinup art are usually
suggestive- the meeting of two color
surfaces, creates the illusion of a line.
This, of course, creates the realism, so
typical of the genre. There are, however, the
white lines in the background, which seem to
serve as a pattern. These lines have a
compositional importance that we’ll get back
to later on, but also seem to serve as a
design element, hinting of Art Nouveau, which
is quite typical in de Berardinis’ work. The
straight, vertical lines conjure up guitar
strings, and- in conjuncture- the wavy lines
may remind us of music, loosely conversing
with abstract greats such as Paul Klee and
Wassily Kandinsky.
Blots are also rendered softly, in order to
create the illusion of reality. But unlike
Zoë Mozert’s piece, de Berardinis’ work has
sharp edges that rarely blend into one
another. Something we’ll get back to in the
lighting section.
The history of Hollywood
porn, all on one page! Bright Lights
film journal features
The Wages of Skin: The Irrepressible Rise of
All-American Smut, by John Minson. A
thorough account of how 1970’s pornography
came to be. A fascinating essay about a
fascinating subject. (AND there are some
pictures, for all you avid Playboy “readers”,
too. )
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
Grassroots third wave feminism manifest
in the revival of the Roller Derby.
Pinup, today, is not
just an art, but a lifestyle. With it’s
own brands of fashion, music, art and of
course, sports. Roller Derby, the choice
sport for those living this lifestyle,
is much more than a bunch of skimpily
outfitted young women bashing away at
each other. It’s a place for women to
organize, express themselves, and take
part in some seriously badass contact
sports. If they can be campy while doing
it- all the better!
I’m all for
supporting my fellow pinup bloggers, so
here’s a kick start for Vintage
Pinup Decals. New on the scene, the
blog mainly offers eBay links, for the
pinup collector and online auction
enthusiast. Bits and pieces of
information of the history of the art
form is slowly accumulating, which makes
for an interesting browse. I bid the
authors good luck and send you to a
sneak peek.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
#174 The
Bi-Weekly Bombshell: Vintage Pinup
Decals Next
>>
First impressions matter, and as film
makers know, one way the ultimate way to make
a woman attractive, is to give her a
dramatic, well produced entrance.
When a
sexy woman enters the room, for the first
time in a film, she can’t just come in.
Sensuous close ups and leering long shots
must be exercised to their fullest,
preferably with a singing number and over the
top sexual innuendo. Today we take a look at
gorgeous women first appearing on the screen
and the men that gawk at them.
Uma Thurman as Venus - Renaissance
Pinup
It seems appropriate to start with the mother
of all desirable women, Venus. In The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a fresh faced
Uma Thurman makes for one of the most
ethereal and soft entrances in cinema.
Heavily based on Botticelli’s version of
venus, the painting comes alive with sound
and motion, leaving the audience and the men
struck by a pure, but not un-sensual beauty
of a time long ago.
It is hard
to say what exactly
causedthe shift in
the Sci-Fi genre- from an almost
exclusive male interest, to a genre that
has more and more female readers,
writers and watchers. All of a sudden,
it became OK for a girl to like the
genre, and more and more girls started
to take interest. (According to some
polls- 80% of the genre readers are
girls, but I am not sure of their
accuracy). Such a shift has to (and did)
cause a change inside the genre- there
was a whole new crowd to satisfy, but
still keep the older crowd interested.
Sexy female
pin ups have been part of the Sci-Fi
fantasy genre since it’s creation.
Monthly magazine in the 30’s 40’s and
50’s feathered sexy half dressed woman
on their covers, usually fighting some
sort of horrible monster.
For most of the 20thcentury, the
sci-fi fantasy genre was male dominated, and
female roles were usually confined to the
generic female roles- the sexy babe or the
damsel in distress. While Tolkien and Asimov
had some more feminist female roles-
likeEowynand Dr.Susan
Calvin, those
characters where few and far in between.
Most female characters where for show, the
love interest of the brave male hero, the
sexy temptress etc.
Suits for women would
come and go throughout history. When
women dress in suits they often don’t do
it to look like a man, but to project
strength. Our perceptions of
masculinity, as a synonym of strength,
is so deeply embedded that a unique
thrill tingles within us, when we
witness a woman in men’s clothing. Our
curiosity peaks, especially if she
balances the masculine facade with a
feminine one.
The female Elvis Presley, the Queen of
Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson rocked like no
other woman. With a raspy voice and done up
finger nails, she’s a spunky blast from the
past, I thought you’d all enjoy.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
Peter Gowland, the
legendary glamor photographer, has a
beautiful site that features many of his
works. Witness the 1950’s till today
through this glitzy and unique lens.
From glamor, to old friends, Gowland’s
site is more like a well organized and
well photographed personal album... OK,
it’s the album you wished your auntie
had, when she was telling you all her
mind-numbing stories from her last
vacation. So get a load of this!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
Thank you Billy, for
sending me this treasure! Newest on the
sidebar, Vintage Ladies
is pages upon pages of quick-loading,
black & white, vintage erotic
photography. From celebrity pinups to
anonymous muses. From the turn of the 20th
century to the early 1960’s. All placed in
this simple Tumblr design, reminiscent of
a plain, old and magical photo album.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
One piece of clothing that drove women to
self mutilation. THE symbol of the social
subjugation of women, for generations and yet
we still love it. So much so, that even after
it died, we revived it several times.
Women’s clothing have always been
controversial. Trying to balance comfort and
beauty has never been the goal of top
designers. Corsets, today, are a choice and a
fashion statement. They also don’t
necessarily mean body modification, by way of
cinching the waist, although some go for this
unhealthy practice. As a wise commentator
said, on the YouTube page of the video to the
left:
“Very
sensual, but after a point it becomes
grotesque. Part of the art is knowing how far
to go and have it still look good, not
deformed.”
Illustration is without
a doubt a fine art, and that’s exactly
what American Art
Archives (newest on the sidebar) is
saying. A beautiful and vast collection of
illustration from yesteryear. It’s not all
pinups, but even a painting of a couple
has at least one woman in it. Online since 1998 American
Art Archives is a delight for Americana
lovers. Hours upon hours of happy
surfing to all!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more hot cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your tri-weekly update on what's
going on in the world of girlie art.
If your love of pinups is strictly vintage,
you’ll love Art of
Teasing (newest on the sidebar). A
beautiful collection of vintage ads,
prints and pulp covers. Just images,
quick loading, almost like flipping
through a magazine... Sans articles
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
What does Elvgren’s girl next door have
to do with Masuimi Max’s tattoos? It’s all a
web of pinupology. Watch the evolution as it
happens!
The pinup girl
evolution isn't, a linear one. Like most
genres of art, each school would
interpret it differently, geography
would change the aesthetics, and post
modernism- and much more recently- the
pluralism of the internet would implode
any possibility of linearism. My goal
then, in this article, is not to create
a time line, but to follow the
evolutionary branching out of the rare
and beautiful species-The pinup.
Palestinian women come in all shapes,
colors and sizes, with different beliefs,
different religions and different ways of
life. This isn’t a well known fact, yet. In
this article I’d like to look at the beauty
from within as well as from without.
I can’t ignore the fact that I’m Israeli and
pro-Palestinian and the reactions this
article may bring my way (or just this
sentence). Nevertheless, it’s
important to me to create a bridge, where
walls are being biult- around Palestinians
and Arabs and Muslims in general. Most
important to me, is to show off, to people of
the West, the beauty and individuality of
each woman I feature. You can’t group
Palestinians into crude stereotypes, as you
can’t group any other group of people. If you
do it, you miss out on the beautiful
diversity of the world.
“She was smart. That was a trick that she
tried to keep from people.” ~Ryan
O’neal
Farrah Fawcett dies
at the way too early age of 62. A woman
who would present herself simpler than
she really was, and was profoundly
human. There was a real person behind
those pearly whites, and I’d like to
take you behind the pinup.
If you’re looking
for vintage gems, CineBeats (Newest on
the sidebar) is the place to go. Amidst
the beautiful 1960’s and 70’s vintage
images, you’ll find the intelligent and
humorous writing of Kimberly Lindbergs.
The design is pleasant, the information
unique and the pinups! Oh the pinups
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
In the process of
LIFE magazine’s converting of their
archives to the digital realm,
fascinating photos pop up. The latest
find is a series of
pre-fame Marilyn Monroe shots.
Twenty-four and fresh faced, LIFE turned
down the images, photographed by Ed Clark,
asking “Who the hell is Marilyn Monroe?!”
Here she is, reading a screenplay, at
Griffith Park, in Los Angeles.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
I usually make my own magic lists, but I
stumbled upon The Huffington Post’s Lesley M.
M. Blume’s “6 Of The World's Most Beautiful
Older Women” and just couldn’t agree
more.
I don’t know if
I’m getting older, or older women are getting
more beautiful, but without a doubt, today,
there are numerous beautiful women who
respect their aging nature. Lesley M. M.
Blume, who wrote this list, said it
beautifully:
“...these ladies know better than to try
to look like you're 20 when you're 50. The
real trick: to look like a beautiful
50-year-old when you're 50.”
I loved Blume’s list and thought
it was right on. So in the name of
non-plastic aging and the appreciation of the
diversity of all that’s beautiful in this
world, here’s the embellished
list of 6 Of The World's Most Beautiful Older
Women:
#1 Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren, 64,
always had guts, when it came to
choosing her roles, but also taking off
her clothes. From the sweet and innocent
young lass in The
Age of Consent to to the sultry and
depressed wife of a sadistic tyrant in
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her
Lover to the tough and introverted
detective on Prime Suspect, Mirren always
carries herself with a very attractive
dignity. And of course she’s the perfect
woman to open this list, as part of the cast
of Calendar Girls:
JFK just isn’t the pinup type, so I’m
sure he wouldn’t mind if The Pinup Blog
ignore him and take a look at Jackie,
instead.
Let’s face it,
between the two of them Jackie was the
pretty one and this is
The Pinup Blog. So we’ll leave Jack out
of this post, but acknowledge that she’s
here because of her husband. Jackie was
also arguably the best dressed First
Lady in American history, only to be
rivaled by the current Mrs. Obama.
Zahira Kelly
is an African American digital pinup
artist with a cause. This is her
inspiring story in her own words:
“It all began when I decided I wanted a
tattoo of a classic pin up but as long and
hard as I searched I could not find any
that looked anything like me. This led me
to create my own!Classic pin up art became
known as iconic Americana in the 1940's and
1950's during World War II. During this era
the socio-political climate and racial
tensions of the United States did not allow
for women of color to be featured in the
times artwork.Due to this, there is a void
to be filled when it comes to finding women
of color featured as the traditional pin
up.My goal is merely to capture the overt
femininity and subtle sexuality of what was
a largely ignored population in 1940's and
1950's style.”
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
Sexy feminist- it’s not an oxymoron its a
living, breathing movement.
For some reason
there are people out there who believe that a
woman dressing provocatively means she knows
nothing about feminism and is asking to be
raped (I won’t name names, some of them don’t
even know who they are). This post is a
collection of pinups that stand for feminism
and correlate with a larger story than their
image. Ladies, gentlemen, feminists; Meet the
sexy, powerful women who believe in equality.
Rosie the Riveter - Make Pride Not
War
You can’t have a
post about feminist pinups without
Rosie
the Riveter. The problem, for me, is
that Rosie was originally painted under
the slogan of support of the war effort.
I made a public promise not to support
war and | keep my promise and talk about
Rosie the Feminist. You see, back when she
was painted, the poster was just one of the
many J.
Howard Miller’s series. Today,
however, it has become a feminist icon,
symbolizing women’s economic equality,
through the satisfaction of
self-sufficient labor.
Newest addition to the sidebar, Walk on the
Mild side is a magnificent collection of
vintage photography, primitively enhanced to
a colorful feast for the eyes. Enjoy the
cheese of yesteryear!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
An interesting
vintage find is this site dedicated
to little-known artist Kolomon Moore.
Moore lived in the 1930’s and drew much of
the decadent city life. From the glamor
piece, to the left, to shoddy
brothel scenes. Not all pieces are as
well executed (or as safe for work) as
this one, but it’s definitely an
fascinating time capsule.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
Last month, I wrote
an article about the beautiful and talented
Nina Mae McKinney. One of my gracious
readers,
Shay, pointed me to a fantastic page,
Ladies of
Harlem. A modest page, full of images
of beautiful African American starlets of
the golden era of black entertainment.
Obviously made with a lot of passion and
respect for diversity, here’s what the
creator of Ladies of Harlem has to say:
“Whatever happened to classic, distinct,
versatile black beauty within and out?..
They Sure had faces then and their own
style of beauty. No one resembled one
another. Beauty from dark to light... No
wonder the 1930’s and 1950’s will never be
forgotten. They surly had faces then.”
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
All right you
old-timers, The Pinup Blog has a special
treat here for you, tonight. It’s
OTRCat- Old Time Radio
Catalog. This site is mainly an online
shop that catalogs and sells old radio
classics, but you can get a taste with
some free samples. OTRCat is a treasure
chest of pop-culture history- truly an
important project. Go take a listen.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
Chiseled beauty, a business oriented mind
and a buzzability is what the 1990’s super
models brought into the pinup world.
When a model becomes widely known,
on a first name basis, she’s a super model.
The knowing of the name, makes that name
into a brand name. This brand name is worth
millions. The 1990’s would be the highlight
of super models. Before Paris Hilton there
would be Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista
and Naomi Campbell.
Ok retro
fashionistas, I got something for the
creators among you. If you sew and love
that vintage-wear, you
needVintage Mode.
This fashion blog is full of links to
sewing patterns, sold on ebay, of gorgeous
vintage designs. And if you don’t sew, I’m
sure you’ll appreciate the historical
vintage aesthetics. Go take a look.
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
While I have to admit I do love Iron Man
and Batman, there just isn't anything like a
female super hero, saving the day and the
world, all the while looking sexy and
glamorous, long hair blowing in the
wind.
Whether it's
watching them on movies or TV, reading
comics, drawing or painting them, or
dressing up in costume as one of these
gorgeous gals, people of all ages around
the world love Superheroines.
Pinups are sexy and glamorous with all
different types of style and personality.
Some of my favorite pinups are pinups of
characters in movies, games, and comics.
These strong, smart, sexy women make for
lovely pinups and great role models. I have
been excited about superheroine art for the
past few months, finding it in the form of
photos, digital art, paintings, and sketches.
An email sent me an
invitation, to see a site that compiles
oriental pinups. Off I went and my jaw
dropped- I hit the oriental pinup
jackpot! Old Orient
Museum was lovingly created by digital
artist Vincent Lexington Harper. Harper
singlehandedly compiled and restored an
astonishing amount of pinups of the
orient. The site is pleasurably designed
and creates a very whole experience, with
music, gorgeous graphics and, of course,
lovely oriental pinup girls, like this one
to the left. It’s so good, I just had to
add it to the sidebar! And it’s so good,
you have to see it for yourself!
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
This one’s for all
the ladies out there, who just love
their ladies retro. Featuring Brooklyn's
queer community, I Love
Brooklyn Girls began its sexy way in
2006. This year the Brooklyn bombshells
will be poking fun at gender roles with
their “professional pinups”. And if that
wasn’t enough, these lovely femmes will
donate 10% of their proceeds to The
Lesbian Herstory Archives. It’s for a
good cause, and anyway, you know you want
to
Add
to Spotlight
To get more cheesecake, subscribe by
Email or by RSS and
get your weekly update on what's going
on in the world of girlie art.
Adding another great name to The Pinup
Blog’s diverse hall of fame: The first
African American movie star, Nina Mae
McKinney.
I got a fantastically enthusiastic email from
Tia which I’d like to share with all you
pinup lovers:
“Hello,
I just wanted to Thank you for pointing out
the lack of diversity in the pin-up world.
I'm a 25 year old black woman and I've
always loved pinups despite the fact none
of them shared my race. What I do have in
common with them is the glamor, confidence,
and most importantly the curves! Also they
were sexy without being trashy and in
today’s world the two have become
synonymous. I believe the pin-ups are are
the best celebration of a woman's form and
its a shame more people don't appreciate
that. Maybe we wouldn't have so many little
girls starving themselves and hating what
they looked like if they saw more images
that were real. Not these size zero,
airbrushed fakes. It saddens me that my
generation hardly knows about these women
besides Marilyn. I respect what you’re
doing by educating people and bring
attention to the forgotten stars. I've
always preferred to watch movies from the
30's,40's and 50's because when it comes to
an image the people were more real back
then. When I try to share my enthusiasm
with peers they don't get it, and they
don't want to. Although I'm happy, that
Josephine Baker, Lena Horne, Dorothy
Dandridge, and Eartha Kitt receive some
recognition it bothers me that people like
Nina Mae McKinney, who was the 1st Black
movie star,receives no recognition at all!
She made her first movie in 1929 and Thirty
films over her career,and unlike those
other ladies her career was just as
successful in the U.S and Europe but she's
one of many who's contribution will
continue to be overlooked.
Again Thank You for doing your part,if we
all continue to honor these women they will
never be forgotten!
Tia Sanchez”
Apart from Tia’s beautifully strong words, it
struck me that I’ve never heard of said Nina
Mae McKinney. So here’s what my research
yielded...
Red is the color associated with fire,
blood (your life force), passion, love, and
heat, temptation, and anger, all of which
could be used to describe my favorite type of
pinups!
This would
be the vivacious Redhead...yes, the
fiery-tempered, sexy bombshells with the
cherry-colored hair...those are the ones
I love! You ask me why? Well, I have to
admit it's because I myself am a
quick-tempered, sharp-tongued redhead.
It's sort of like little girls with
blonde hair wanting a blonde Barbie doll
while the girls with brown hair seem to
prefer the brunette Barbies. I don't
remember having a redheaded Barbie doll
as a little girl (what a shame!). I'm a
redhead who loves looking at
crimson-tressed pinups. Some believe
these traits (the temper, the intense
sexuality) to be myths, but in my case,
it's all true, so how can I argue with
the stereotypes surrounding redheads?
Add
to Spotlight
In 2007 the Mildred Lane
Kemper Art Museum held an exhibition,
Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of
American Art and Popular Culture. This
Lichtenstein piece is what’s left of it
visually, but for you literary types,
there’s also this fascinating article
about the exhibition. This is definitly
one I’m sorry I missed.
Loads of vintage fun at
The history of Hollywood
porn, all on one page! Bright Lights
film journal features 
Suits for women would
come and go throughout history. When
women dress in suits they often don’t do
it to look like a man, but to project
strength. Our perceptions of
masculinity, as a synonym of strength,
is so deeply embedded that a unique
thrill tingles within us, when we
witness a woman in men’s clothing. Our
curiosity peaks, especially if she
balances the masculine facade with a
feminine one.
Peter Gowland, the
legendary glamor photographer, has a
beautiful site that features many of his
works. Witness the 1950’s till today
through this glitzy and unique lens.
From glamor, to old friends, Gowland’s
site is more like a well organized and
well photographed personal album... OK,
it’s the album you wished your auntie
had, when she was telling you all her
mind-numbing stories from her last
vacation. So get a load of this!
Illustration is without
a doubt a fine art, and that’s exactly
what 
All right you
old-timers, The Pinup Blog has a special
treat here for you, tonight. It’s
