These are questions I get asked almost daily! And especially now that I’ve participated in a Pinup pageant, the interest from people is overwhelming! So I thought I’d write down a little about what the Pinup culture is all about and what it means to me. Because we all have our very own little interpretation about the pinup lifestyle – many that are correct and accurate because the pinup lifestyle is very diverse. It starts of with a basic style in the bottom and then it just grows in many different branches from there.
Some may argue and say that a pinup is a girl that sells on sex and is the exact opposite of a feminist, while others disagree and believes that she is the perfect example of a modern feminist and that she empowers women everywhere. Both might be true in their very own way.
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, i.e. meant to be “pinned-up” on a wall. Pin-up girls may be glamour models, fashion models, or actresses.
from Wikipedia
In the early days (talking about 1940s) Pinups were used to engage women in the society, encouraging them to take a stand and help in the war – among other things. But also to inspire “the boys at war” with a bit more teasing photos that were printed on cards that they carried with them and kept them “motivated” during their long deployment away from family and loved ones.
Today the modern pinup girl and the lifestyle is all about building each other up. Giving girls confidence to do whatever they want and wear what they want without thinking about the reactions of others.
I used to worry about what others thought about me. I was young and media gave us a vision of what girls and women should look like and be like that were a bit out of reach for a 12 year old girl trying to fit in. I liked Elvis from an early age and were fascinated by movies like Gone with the wind, Grease, Blues Brothers and so on. So I already had a crush on the vintage stuff. But trying to tell the other kids this – that listened to the latest in pop and rap music was a bit hard. Also I had never really had any real friends so I was afraid that if I told them what I liked they would not be friends with me anymore.
This all changed gradually during the years. I took a more rock’n’roll sort of style and were able to implement some of the things I liked without causing too much attention around myself and my style preference. This was nice. When I was about 18 a girl in my class was a true individual. She loved everything corset related and she was not afraid to show the world that this was her style.
I remember one day she came to school wearing this rocking corset, tightened beyond recognition almost, that was her thing. And some girls in my class stuck their head together and was all like: “I can’t believe she wears that to school!” “How can she breathe in that thing?” “That is so weird” Listening to these girls and watching my classmate being proud of her corset and wearing it with such pride really put a mark on me. I thought she was brave for wearing this and doing her own thing but the other girls looked down on her for being different.
That girl being herself represent what I feel a pinup should be all about. Being yourself and being proud of it no matter what the haters might think about you. She opened my eyes and after that day I tried my best to express myself in the way I really wanted to be. It took me a few years to really dare getting into the rockabilly/pinup style. But I eventually got there. And now I don’t care what other people think. Of course I know I shake up some emotions and reactions amongst people, but I too like this girl from all those years ago carry myself with dignity and pride. I LOVE my dresses, I LOVE the color of my hair, and I LOVE wearing makeup and red lips! That is just a part of ME! It has sorted out some “friendships” over the years, as it has turned out some of them were not my true friends, but some have been standing by me from day one and embraced the new me. And they encourage me to keep on doing it! And THAT ladies and gentlemen is what pinups represent!
A community that LOVES you no matter what your size is, what preference of the pinup style you have, whether it is burlesque inspired or more cute little housewife inspired. We love women (and men!) for who they really are. As long as you are true to yourself, nice to others and not stuck up or mean then you are a Pinup and you represent what we want others to think about us when they see or hear the word Pinup.
Picture credit: Kjell Post – http://www.irstafoto.se/
All of these women are pinup! See how different our styles are? But we did not judge each other on appearance! It was the personality that mattered to us. And these girls represent the pinup lifestyle perfectly. They taught me a lot of things about what this lifestyle is about and what I should try to find within myself. Self love and respect for myself and what I do.
And of course, you do not have to go to pageants or photoshoots to be a pinup! You can just do this for yourself at home. As long as you like dressing up within the style then you are a pinup. No require to be a published model with 5K followers on instagram. No. You can do it quietly and privately in your own home, no fuzz. It’s what makes you happy that counts.
I found out that I loved the pageant life and would love to do it again sometime. Because it gave me the opportunity to get to know some amazing people from Scandinavia and do some good charity work for the Wilhelm Foundation.
Picture credit: http://www.nitrokatstudio.se/
Hopefully this answered some questions you guys had about the pinup lifestyle and the modern pinup girl. If you have more questions please ask them and I will answer as best as I can. There’s so much to write about when it comes to this lifestyle that it is sometimes hard to place everything in a nice and tidy order. So if you guys have some more questions please ask and I will maybe post a Q&A entry about this later to make it easier for people to get their questions answered.
Betty HellKat 