It’s been two and a half years since I
started The
Pinup Shop and The Pinup Blog, and
without a doubt it’s been an incredible
journey. I’d love to be sure of myself and
assuring, and say “I’ve reached the
journey’s end and arrived at my
destination”, but life is more miraculous
than that, and what seems to be the end of
this path, is just the beginning of
another.
While
my life has changed very dramatically, in the
past year, I found that it’s very
possible to merge my love for pinups and my
other interests. Pinups aren’t just a pretty
face, and despite what the art form seems to
be at face value, I’ve learned it can be read
and understood in many ways. Viewing politics,
feminism and
moral issues through pop culture gave me
a whole new perspective on the world around
me, and I can only hope you found it as
fascinating as I did.
That said, I’ve found that lately my heart is
asking for something else. And though I can’t
say what it is yet, there are only so many
hours in a day. The time | put into The Pinup
Blog and The Pinup Shop doesn’t allow me to
search for this something. It’s for this
reason, for the time being, I have to stop
working on the blog and the art, and begin
working on something else. I don’t know if
I’ll come back to work on the pinup project,
but I don’t want to throw away all that I’ve
done and love, and I know that many others
love as well. So I leave both the blog and
shop online, for your pinup pleasure, and
hope you visit my other
online gallery (there’s lots of
non-pinup sexy ladies to see ).
Kisses to all of you,
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FlashParade is a
magnificent artist, who does a lot of
what can be easily classified cartoon
pinup art. The artist’s cute subjects
are very feminine and dynamic, and loads
of fun. Good art and good pinup. Enjoy!
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Over two years of The Pinup Blog and,
surprisingly enough, we’ve yet to touch on a
very pinup-esque theme: The zodiac.
Women as allegory
came up in last
week’s post. Today is all allegory
with Zodiac Pinups. Though traditionally
woman have been used in the images of the
Virgo sign and often Aquarius, this week,
we’ll be focusing on complete series of
women as zodiac signs.
#10 Fantasy Zodiac Pinups
Probably what you’d
most expect to see out of a woman zodiac
series, but surprisingly not the most
commonly found on the net. Soft and
meticulous fantasy art, with kitschy
mystical touches. It’s less overtly sexy
and focuses more on femininity.
Something for the whole family
The internet is an
incredible place for diversity. The
beautiful
Persephonii, a LiveJournal blogger, took
her shot at pinup posing and came out a
gorgeous African American, BBW cheesecake,
for one shot.
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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.
With a ridiculously
cold-war-era paranoia, Retro Lovely is a
bold move back into the printed world. The
magazine caters to pinup lovers of many a
variety. From classic to goth neo pinups,
it’s all your favorite models in all your
favorite styles. Surf the site, buy a
magazine, and most of all, enjoy yourself.
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In search for pinup
beauty, I landed on
this terrific show-don’t-tell post at
LiveJournal. The post showcases some of the
most common trends in contemporary pinup art;
fantasy, neo-realism, photoshopped beauty and
interesting trending towards classic
expressionism. Take some time off for this
safe for work compilation.
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The inspiring burlesque
artist, Tiara
the Merch Girl, is also a prolific
writer on issues of race in the world of
burlesque, at Racialicious ( “a
[fantastic] blog about the intersection of
race and pop culture” ). I was ecstatic to
find The Pinup Blog mentioned in her
article,
Who’s a Pretty Burlesque Princess
Now. The article asks
significant questions about the diversity of
burlesque and its importance as an art-form
and innovator. Take a few minutes off for
some burlesqu-shop-talk, to read this
phenomenal post.
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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.
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In dramatic scene, tough and even evil,
it’s the sexy Easter bunny fantasy gone
awry.
One of the most
common fantasies in cyber space, the
sexy bunny, has endless Google results.
While the typical sexy Easter bunny is
just a poster girl, on the sweet side
and often a Playboy cliche, I’ve run
into a more fetishistic bunny, this
year, which I’m more than glad to share
with you.
“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.
The “exotic” fantasy has always existed
in the pinup realm and long before. The Pinup
Blog takes a look at the social aspects of
one of its favorite fantasies.
I love the diversity that’s offered in the
pinup world. Beautiful images are produced
with the assistance of cultural symbols in
clothing and accessories and, of course, the
diversity of the models themselves. I touched
on this subject in
my article about Palestinian pinups.
Rather than repeat what could have made a
great opening for this article, I’d like to
start with this whimsical, clever and
beautiful young woman, Natalie, who’s totally
an “exotic” pinup girl of her times.
Just a random find.
A picture of Marilyn Monroe (labeled
“Marilyn 3” ) that caught my eye, on a
smashing fashion blog, Hello
Dollface. For a moment, it reminded me
of what I love so much about pinups, and I
thought I’d share. Enjoy!
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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!
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Wow! The Bi-Weekly
Bombshell has reached the 200 mark! To
celebrate, I’d like to do what this
mini-column is all about and share with
you a fantastic pinup link! Take a look
at the gorgeous neo pinup calender, the
Brazilian magazine, Contigo!, put up.
Each bombshell is a famous model or
actress, all dolled up in that retro
pinup style we love so much. Enjoy!
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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.
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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
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You never know where you may find
yourself, so don’t go out without that pinup
fix in your pocket!
It seems pinups
are not only objects to pin up, but also made
to fit right in your pocket. The Pinup Blog
has compiled a list of 10 essential pocket
pinups, you can take anywhere!
Not exactly cheesecake and not exactly
beefcake, but definitely sexy! It’s time to
feast your eyes on the butch pinup.
Feeling comfortable
in your own skin is the number one
ingredient for sex appeal. Not every
woman feels sexy in heels and lipstick,
and as a result, not every woman
is sexy in
heels and lipstick. This week, The Pinup
Blog takes a look at the diverse and
beautiful butch women, who prefer men’s
shorts over panties, and sideburns over
curlers.
Want to know what
it’s like to be a gorgeous femme fatale,
as a way of life? Pinup Tales offers
two years of the life of Kitty du Vert,
who tells a rather casual story with a
glamour girl twist. A creative exercise in
pink.
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I can’t believe I
don’t have Little
Darling’s Pinups for Pitbulls on my
sidebar! This changes right now.
Professional neo pinup, Little Darling, is
a dedicated animal rights activist and has
founded Pinups for Pitbulls in order to
give special care to an especially
discriminated breed:
“Through creating an annual pinup calendar,
selling other merchandise, and throwing
events, Pinups for Pitbulls, Inc. raises
money and awareness to benefit the health and
welfare of this largely misunderstood breed.
the goal is to restore the former image of
the American Pit Bull Terrier as war Hero,
helper, nanny, companion and friend. Pinups
for Pitbulls also seeks to ban BSL,
(breed-specific-legislation), and to lobby
against dog fighting, puppy mills, and
cruelty to pit bulls. Little Darling believes
that public education combinedwith the
pro-pit bull testimonies and images of
beautiful, strong women (especially using the
All-American pinup image) will help to
counterbalance the stigma that the media and
animal abusers have placed on pit bulls and
bully-breeds.”
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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 Mormons are at it again! Chad Hardy,
the man who brought us Mormon beefcake (and
was excommunicated for it), isn’t neglecting
our hardy appetite. This year, in addition to
Mormons Exposed, he brings us the retro Hot
Mormon Muffins calendar. Campy, but tasteful,
and for- not one but- two good causes! Other
than raising awareness about the diversity of
Mormons, some of the proceeds of the
calenders goes to breast cancer research.
That’s another calender to add to
the list this very sexy year, so have a
good one!
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Dorothy Dale
Kloss is the oldest living showgirl in the
world. At 85, she’s a lovely adition to The
Pinup Blog’s diverse collection of
bombshells. Enough talk, watch this lady go!
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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:
I was happy to
stumble upon the Facebook group,
A group for people who love Burlesque Queens
and 1940's-1950's
Pin-ups, which has one of the
prettiest collections of retro pinups (like
this Elvgren homage, to the left). So if
you’re on Facebook, don’t miss this colorful
little community.
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In 2007, Tendance
High Tech declared the year to “lead
with force, the come-back of the
neo-retro pin-up girls style.” As an
opener, they supplied this retro-esque
image of Scarlett Johansson. So in hopes
that 2010 will continue the neo-retro
pin-up girls style (with force
), I open the new year
with that same image. Happy, sexy new
year to all!
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The new year is upon us and so are the
calender girls!
Calenders are the
traditional display method for pinups. What’s
new in 2010? Many good causes and a lot of
good art. Ladies and gents, I give you The
Pinup Blog’s top 10 pinup calenders!
#10 Vintage Cowgirl Pinups Wall
Calendar
CafePress is full of pinup calenders and it
was hard to choose between them. We start our
list off with this
themed vintage cowgirl calender. Each
image is a collage, mixing up classic pinup
cowgirl with typography and some vintage
ornaments. Simple and sweet.
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!
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A new site (and
newest on the sidebar), and already
Vintage
Classic Cars and Girls has an
impressive collection of retro neo-pinup
photography and illustrations. If you’re
all about curlers and cars, this is the
site for you!
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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.
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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. )
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A lovely, random
find, on my search for pinup perfection
across the web. This is last year’s
New Mexico Rocks Pinup
Calender. A collection of
beautiful and diverse neo pinups, if I’ve
ever seen one. Enjoy:
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It doesn’t
get any more retro than this. For all
you geeks that love a little sexual
innuendo in your code, I give you the
defining style of an era: ASCII Pinup.
Asthe creator of this
minimalist cheesecakeput it:
Hubba
hubba!
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The never-ending
source of fantastic photographers,
Flickr, brought the brilliantly retro
neo pinup photographer, Adrian
Benedykt, to my attention. High
saturation, classic pinup styling and
themes, with a 21st century
edge. Neo pinups at their best- go check
it out!
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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.
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#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.
Molly
Kiely,
author ofDiary
of a Dominatrix,
is an in-your-face underground comics
artist and illustrator. I find her and her
work (in no particular order) fascinating,
cheeky and devilishly sexy. She’s got a
lot to say, so here’s some of it:
Everyone ought to have a colourful past
(and, ideally, a colourful present), and
mine is being an unrepentant pornographer.
I've heard all the criticism about
pornography that there is -- so boring. My
sexually explicit work is not declasse or
moronic, and I maintain that I am a kickass
feminist. In the words of one of my
admirers, my work is "seditious" and
"undermines the paradigm of Lonely Guys
Comic Porn."
And on that note, check her out!
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I was just given the
beautiful book, collecting Joseph
Michael Linsner’s art,
Girls and Goddesses. I thought I’d share
the wonder. Here’s just one of Lisner’s
pieces, available for your viewing and
purchasing pleasure at his
website.
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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.
The marvelous
fantasy artist, Jessica
Oyhenart (a.k.a
“tattereddreams&rdquo, has created these two
brilliant fairy tale pinups. Though she
only directly mentions “Masquerade Ball
- Alice” (left) as inspired by Alice in
Wonderland, I thought “Autumn” (right)
alludes to Little Red Riding Hood. Could
make for a wonderful neo pinup series...
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For all you vintage
craftspeople and vintage appreciators, I
bring you the highly creative A Dress A Day
blog. Almost every day an astonishingly
creative retro dress is uploaded and you
can just sit in awe and salivate. If
you’re an active vintage wear creator, I
also recommend checking out the fabulous
links on the sidebar.
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Halloween is coming up and it’s time to
get horrifically sexy with a look at the
pinups of horror television (and one movie).
And ask a few questions about what it all
means?
Lust and fear come
together in the horror entertainment
industry. Basically, where there’s a
scary monster, you’ll find a beautiful
lady, making for a good star-crossed
lovers tale. Many times, however, you’ll
find the lady is actually the monster,
claiming archaic ideas that a woman’s
lust is a dark desire that will consume
you. All this and so much more
allegories, in The Pinup Blog’s
Halloween special.
).
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FlashParade is a
magnificent artist, who does a lot of
what can be easily classified cartoon
pinup art. The artist’s cute subjects
are very feminine and dynamic, and loads
of fun. Good art and good pinup. Enjoy!
The inspiring burlesque
artist, 
Wow! The Bi-Weekly
Bombshell has reached the 200 mark! To
celebrate, I’d like to do what this
mini-column is all about and share with
you a fantastic pinup link! Take a look
at the gorgeous neo pinup calender, the
Brazilian magazine, Contigo!, put up.
Each bombshell is a famous model or
actress, all dolled up in that retro
pinup style we love so much. Enjoy!
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 
